<9HE Cpwoi^th Readings 

FOR 18QO-91. 



THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

STUDIES IN THE FOUR GOSPELS. By J. L. 

HURLBUT, . . . ... 

THE CHRISTIAN'S SECRET OF A HAPPY 
LIFE Ey H. \V. Smith, 

SHORT HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN THE 
UNITED STATES. By John F. Hurst, 

AT THE THRESHOLD. By Ross C. Hoi'GHTON, 

FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 
By Mrs. E. H. Thompson, 
The Set (not including New Testament,) $2 



THE EPWORTH READINGS FOR 1890-91 



From the Thames to the Trosachs 



IMPRESSIONS OF TRAVEL 



IN 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 



BY 

MRS. E. H. THOMPSON 






WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
By JESSE L. HURLBUT 



itf* 



OFCn- 



r . 



NEW YORK: HUNT & EATON 

CINCINNATI: CRANSTON &» STOWE 

1890 



Copyright, 1890, by 

H U N T & E A T O N 

New York. 



I THE LIBRARY 
U Or CONGRESS 

M^HINGTOM 






CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Introduction v 

London 1 

The British Museum 17 

Westminster Abbey 34 

Windsor 50 

Oxford 62 

Stratford 80 

Chester 96 

Ep worth. By Rev. Arthur Copeland 108 

York 116 

The English Lakes 132 

Abbotsford • 148 

Edinburgh 166 

The Trosachs 184 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Map of the Route Frontispiece. 

London Tower from the Thames 13 

The Inscription on the Rosetta Stone 23 

Head of Chariot Horse 33 

Westminster Abbey from the North 34 

Plan of Westminster Abbey 37 

The Coronation Chair, Westminster Abbey 41 

Westminster Abbey, The Poets' Corner 46 

Windsor Castle 50 

Queen Victoria 56 

The Prince of Wales 56 

The City of Oxford 62 

The Martyrs' Memorial, Oxford 78 

Chester Cathedral 96 

Chester Cathedral, Interior of Nave 106 

The Epworth Rectory 108 

Abbotsford 148 

Dryburgh Abbey 153 

Plan of Edinburgh 166 

John Knox's Church, Edinburgh 175 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Epworth League, aiming for the complete Christian 
character, recognizes the importance of intelligence when 
superadded to an earnest spiritual life. The man of God 
needs knowledge, and not only knowledge in the word of 
life, but in the world of thought. Therefore in the course 
of reading of the Epworth League it is proposed to have 
each year at least one book of general literature, such as 
will enlarge the mental range and promote intellectual effort. 

In the selection and arrangement of this book various 
reasons influenced the committee. It was thought that some 
work on foreign travel would prove interesting to the readers 
in the League, and would suggest valuable programmes for 
literary meetings. As it would not be possible to make 
a general tour, that land was chosen which is of all lands 
most closely connected with America, and to no Church is 
nearer than to our own, since in it lived our founder, who 
with Lather and St. Paul looms up in history as one of the 
three greatest men in the annals of Christianity. All that 
is best in England is the heritage of America. Her literature 
is our literature, for we may enjoy Chaucer's tale and Shakes- 
peare's strain and Bunyan's immortal dream and Brown- 
ing's " veined humanity." The heroes of her history are 
ours — for Alfred and Cromwell and Pitt all joined hands in the 
making of America. If there had been no Runnymede and 
Marston Moor there would have been no Plymouth Rock 
and no Bunker Hill. Every American has the deepest in- 
terest in that land, which has been the bulwark of liberty 
and the mother of a mighty nation. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Especially should we, as Methodist Episcopalians, study 
the characteristics and the history of England. We need to 
know something of that Lincolnshire which nourished our 
Wesley; of that Oxford where was formed the famous 
brotherhood which grew into our Church; of that London 
where, for the first time, he "felt his heart strangely 
warmed" with the experience of a spiritual life; of the 
places where he journeyed and preached and laid the foun- 
dations of the temple which counts its living stones by the 
million, and is still growing. Every place named and de- 
scribed in this book has its own interest in history, in litera- 
ture, and in the annals of the Church. 

This book is mainly a selection of twelve tracts from a series 
of sixty prepared a few years ago by Mrs. E. H. Thompson, 
of New Hampshire, at the suggestion and under the direc- 
tion of the Rev. Dr. Vincent, at that time editor of Sunday- 
school literature, now one of our honored bishops. The de- 
sign of the Foreign Tourist Series was to supply in compact 
space the best information concerning the most important 
places of interest in Europe. Every work obtainable on the 
subject was laid under contribution, and extracts were made 
from books of travel, from histories, and from poems. Al- 
though to the cursory glance this method gives to the work 
a sketchy appearance, yet it adds a great value; for the 
reader enjoys the privilege of obtaining what many — and 
these, standard authors — have written concerning these 
places. 

From the sixty tracts of the Foreign Tourist Series a se- 
lection was made of twelve relating to places in England 
and Scotland. These have been bound together, repaged, 
revised, and richly illustrated with engravings of scenes and 
persons referred to in the text. 

To the work of Mrs. Thompson has been added a sketch 
of Epworth by the Rev. Arthur Copeland, A.M., a member 
of our League, who has recently visited the place. This 



INTRODUCTION. 



article, with the extracts from Methodist historians, will en- 
hance the value of the book to all our readers, for with the 
Epworth League there has been awakened an interest, wide- 
spread and deep, in all the places and events connected with 
the origin of Methodism. 

It is recommended that with the reading of this book the 
map be consulted constantly, and that the journey from 
place to place be arranged in the form of a tour. It would 
be a taking plan to imagine the chapter making the tour 
together from the home to New York, across the ocean to 
London, and thence following the order of the places as 
given in the book. Let the members in town prepare the 
story and tell it to the League, working into the narration 
the names of their fellow-members in the chapter. 

Each place of the series may furnish an evening's enter- 
tainment to the League, mingling enjoyment and instruction. 
Four to six speakers might give each a part of the descrip- 
tion, and each member might add a sentiment or a sentence 
from the quotations. 

In many homes are abundant stores of photographs, books 
of travel containing illustrations, etc., which might be shown 
at the meeting as each place is under discussion. The 
magic-lantern may be used to exhibit pictures of the places 
referred to, and " slides " may be hired from dealers if none 
are in the possession of the members. 

While the tour is in progress let a map of Great Britain 
hang upon the wall of the chapter-room. The best map is 
not always one purchased from the dealer. There may be 
undeveloped talent in map-drawing in the membership, which 
will handle a bit of charcoal and make a sheet of manilla 
paper present the picture of the British Isles. Or England 
may first be drawn and then Scotland, upon separate sheets, 
while each is under discussion. 

Poetry, too, will add an interest to the places. With the 
scenes in Scotland extracts from Robert Burns and Sir 



INTRODUCTION. 



Walter Scott may be chosen, which will give a delightful 
evening. 

We commend this book to its readers in the Epworth 
League, not doubting that they will find enjoyment and in- 
struction in its pages. Jesse L. Hurlbut. 

New York, September 10, 1890. 



I. 

LONDON. 



London - , the capital and metropolis of England, is located 
on the Thames River about fifty miles from its mouth. It 
covers an area of one hundred and twenty-two square miles, 
which includes a portion of three counties — Middlesex, 
Surrey, and Kent. 

The Thames divides London into two unequal parts. 

The population exceeds four million, a greater number 
than the united population of the New England States. 

According to Baedeker, " there are in London more Scotch- 
men than in Edinburgh, more Irish than in Dublin, more Jews 
then in Palestine, and more Roman Catholics than in Rome ! " 

London includes ten parliamentary boroughs. The city 
has its own government, of which the lord mayor is the 
chief officer, and its own police force, numbering 10,000. 

The city is irregularly laid out. Under-ground it is tun- 
neled by the Metropolitan Railway, which has an annual pat- 
ronage of about seventy million passengers. 

The common division given to the part of London lying on 
the north bank of the Thames, is East End and West End. 
Temple Bar is the dividing point. 

Dickens has made us so familiar with London streets that 
Oxford, Regent, and Fleet Streets, Piccadilly, The Mall, 
The Strand, Ludgate Hill, Holborn, and Cheapside seem 
like old acquaintances. 

"What inexhaustible food for speculation do the streets of London afford ! 
. . . The appearance presented by the streets of London an hour before 
sunrise on a summer's morning is most striking even to the few whose 
unfortunate pursuits of pleasure, or scarcely less unfortunate pur- 
suit of business cause them to, be we\\ acquainted with the scene. 
There is an air of cold, solitary desolation about the noiseless streets 



2 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

which we are accustomed to see thronged at other times by a busy, eager 
crowd, and over the quiet, closely-shut buildings, which throughout the 
day are swarming with life and bustle, that is very impressive. . . . An 
hour wears away ; the spires of the churches and roofs of the principal 
buildings are faintly tinged with the light of the rising sun; and the streets, 
by almost imperceptible degrees, begin to resume their bustle and anima- 
tion. Market carts roll slowly along ; the sleepy wagoner impatiently urging 
on his tired horses, or vainly endeavoring to awaken the boy, who, luxuri- 
ously stretched ou the top of the fruit-baskets, forgets, in happy oblivion, 
his long cherished curiosity to behold the wonders of London. . . . Eleven 
o'clock, and a new set of people fill the streets. The goods in the shop- 
windowjs are invitingly arranged: the shop-men, in their white neckerchiefs 
and spruce coats, look as if they couldn't clean a window if their lives de- 
pended on it; the carls have disappeared from Covent Garden; the wag- 
oners have returned, and the costermongers repaired to their ordinary 
"beats" in the suburbs; clerks are at their offices, and gigs, cabs, omni- 
buses, and saddle-horse3 are conveying tbeir masters to the same destina- 
tion. The streets are thronged with a vast concourse of people, gay and 
shabby, rich and poor, idle and industrious ; and we come to the heat, 
bustle, and activity of noon. — Dickens. 

Through Fleet Street and The Strand — what a world ! Here come the 
ever-thronging, ever-rolling waves of life, pressing and whirling on in their 
tumultuous career. Here day and night pours the stream of human beings, 
receding amid the roar and din and clatter of the passing vehicles, like the 
tide of some great combat. . . . There is a sublimity in this human Niagara 
that makes one look on his own race with something of awe. — Bayard 
Taylor. 

The various shifting, motley crowd that belong to Oxford Street, and Ox- 
ford Street alone ! "What thoroughfares equal thee in the variety of human 
specimens. — An on. 

You would think London Strand the main artery of the world. I suppose 
there is no thoroughfare on the face of the earth where the stream of human 
life runs with a tide so overwhelming. — N. P. Willis. 

The tide, rolls on in one incessant current, from early in the morning until 
late at night; and the stranger soon finds he might as well wait for the 
waters of the Rhine to exhaust themselves, and run their channels dry, as 
to wait for some of the principal streets of London city to clear themselves 
of their immense moving multitude. — Wilbur Fisk, D.D. 

I thought my experience in New York streets had prepared me for Lon- 
don; but on emerging into the London streets for the first time I found 
my mistake. I was fairly stunned and bewildered by the tremendous rush 



LONDON. 3 

of humanity that poured down through Oxford Street, through Holborn, on 
to the city, or otherwise down toward Whitechapel, Lombard Street, the 
Bank, and the Exchange. — Curtis Guild. 

The history of London previous to the occupancy of Brit- 
ain by the Romans is somewhat indefinite. 

Historians differ as to the exact site and size of Roman 
London, called Londinium, but it is certain that under the 
Roman reign London became a city of great commercial im- 
portance, also a military stronghold. 

From 449 to 851 London was held by the Saxons ; from 
851 to 1056, part of the time by the Saxons and part of the 
time by Danes ; from 1056 to 1 154, by the Normans. During 
this period charters were granted by William the Conqueror 
and Henry I. 

In the Plantagenet reign, from 1154 to 1339, charters were 
granted by Richard I. and King John. A great number of 
convents and hospitals were established ; the Jews were ex- 
pelled from the city ; Smithfield was established as a place 
of execution ; the Wat Tyler rebellion occurred ; many 
public buildings were erected. 

In the Tudor reign, from 1485 to 1603, the Warbeck rebell- 
ion took place ; the monasteries and friaries were suppressed ; 
Sir Thomas Wyatt made an unsuccessful attempt to gain 
possession of the city. This period is remarkable for the num- 
ber of eminent men and women living in the city, especially 
during Elizabeth's reign, and for the rapid increase of the 
city in size and commercial importance. 

In the Stuart reign, from 1603 to 1714, the Plague twice 
visited London. In the civil war, occurring in the reign of 
Charles I., the city espoused the cause of Parliament and 
was extensively fortified. The great fire commenced Sep- 
tember 2, 1666, and lasted four days. The city was de- 
prived of its charter by Charles II., but received it again 
from James II. 

From the accession of George I. up to the present time, 



4 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSAGHS. 

London has grown rapidly, and it is to-day " the emporium 
of England, the center of its great monetary transactions, 
the home of its science, literature, and art, and the yearly 
resort of its aristocratic and landed proprietor classes." 

The world of London. — Scott. 

This mighty wilderness, the city — no, not the city, but the nation of Lon- 
don. — De Quincey. 

The metropolis of the world. — D. R. Locke. 

London, the heart of the British Empire. — Joseph Hatton. 

The greatest city in the civilized world. — F. R. Stockton. 

London, the trysting-place of the globe. — H. Taine. 

The great marine gate-way of England. . . . The great heart of human 
activity. — Olive R. Seward. 

London itself a pantomime aud a masquerade. — Charles Lamb. 

The vast city of cities. — Chambers's Journal. 

London, that great Babel. — Irving. 

The great chameleon city. — Walter Thornbury. 

London, the tuberosity of modern civilization. — Carlyle. 

The city of the world. . . . The giant city London. — William A. Drew. 

Loudon, a giddy whirl of life. — F-oude. 

A city within a city. — Frank Leslie's Monthly. 

London, that huge Hubbub. — Frances Ann Kemble. 

Dear, droll, distracting town. — Pope. 

London, a gigantic labyrinthine puzzle. — Chambers's Miscellany. 

It is a strange, many-sided world, this world of London. — M. D. Conway. 

London is an ocean. . . . London is so vast and interminable, and dark, 
a boundless contiguity of shade. — H. M. Fields D.D. 

No other city is so heterogeneous, or presents so many contrasts in close 
proximity. — Andrew P. Peabody. 

London is an inexhaustible store of wonders. — Zachariah Allen. 

A vast aggregation of bricks, mortar, traffic, population, magnificence, and 
want. — H. T. Tuckerman. 

London is — London. — Louise C. Moulton. 

A vast reality which it requires time and study to get an idea of. — C. C. 
Ftlton. 

London is two or three New Yorks rolled into one. — Curtis Guild. 



LONDON. 5 

The great heart of the modern world — the great city of our reverence and 
love. . . . This historic capital. — William Winter. 

This great city in its several quarters and divisions, I look upon it as an 
aggregate of various nations distinguished from each other by their respect- 
ive customs, manners, and interests. — Addison. 

A vast seething caldron. ... A perplexed labyrinth of streets and 
lanes, and untraceable ranges of buildings, that seemed the huddled up 
fragments of a fractured puzzle. — Hugh Miller. 

London, the world's great city, the nation's bazar. — Hezekiah Butterworth. 

London has become, in fact, a world within itself. — Joel Cook. 

London is the head, the brain, the heart, the noble viscus of our body 
politic. — John F. Murray. 

The head-quarters of the trade and commerce of the country. Here 
every thing is brought to a focus, and every interest has its representative. 
— John Murray. 

To paint London is felt to be as impossible as to paint chaos. — Rev. 
George GilfiUan. 

Sir John Herschel somewhat unctuously called London " the center of the 
terrene globe." Emerson says that all things precious, or useful, or amus- 
ing, or intoxicating, are sucked into English commerce and floated to Lon- 
don. A recent writer, speaking of the metropolis, says that "London is an 
epitome of the world, a museum of all human anatomies, a mirror for all the 
passions, a show-room for all the antiquities and splendors, a universal gala 
ground, and a perpetual mourning house." London is also the metropolis of 
the world's literature. — Harper's Magazine. 

London has become the world's money center and the clearing-house of 
all exchanges. . . . London compels the world's business to pass through 
it, aud thus becomes the great custodian of other people's money, and, as a 
consequence, takes toll and tribute from all. — Richard B. Kimball, LL.D. 

The great sight in London is — London. No man understands himself as 
an infinitesimal until he has been a drop in that ocean, a grain of sand on 
that sea- margin, a mote in its sunbeam, or the fog or smoke which stands 
for it; in plainer phrase, a unit among its millions. — 0. W. Holmes. 

The Brobdignagian size of the place confounded me. It covered a super- 
ficies the mind could not compass. . . . Let no local magnate, with an im- 
mense sense of his self-importance, come to London. The discovery of his 
insignificance might be fatal. — Henry Wikoff. 

So vast is she that one might walk her streets constantly for a month 
without retracing his steps. — 0. R. Barchard, A.M. 



6 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

Every day my amazement increased at the extent, the activity and wealth 
of London. — J. P. Durbin, D.D. 

Let a stranger be placed in the center of the metropolis, and take what 
direction he will, he cannot fail, from the distance he has to walk before he 
reaches the outskirts, to be struck with amazement at its enormous extent. 
— James Grant. 

To one of observation and reflection and adequate knowledge, every 
thing in London is suggestive. — Charles Knight. 

P]very inch of London is historic ground. — Prof. J. S. Lee. 

It has been said that Paris is France. In a far greater sense may it be 
said that London is England. — Macmillan's Magazine. 

London is the greatest city of which we have trustworthy historical in- 
formation ; and certaidy the most important politically, as well as commer- 
cially, now in existence. — W. J. L. 

By taste and wealth proclaimed 

The fairest capital of all the world. — Cowper. 

The two great capitals of the earth — Rome and London. — William Ware. 
Magnitude is the distinguishing characteristic of London. — Ibid. 
I was, I must confess, overwhelmed by the immensity of London. — Notes 
of a Pedestrian Tour. 

A look at it will soon satisfy one how true it is that, compared to London, 
all other cities are but villages. — Andrew Carnegie. 

London is a vast aggregation of streets and houses, or in fact of towns and 
cities, which have to be mastered in detail. — Scribner's Montldy. 

This city of our fathers, consecrated by so much genius, so much worth, 
so much righteous endurance in the cause of secular and religious truth. — 
Eliza Meteyard. 

London with its splendors, and its queernesses, its squares, fountains, 
equipages, cabmen, well-dressed and well-maDnered circles. — Julia Ward 
Howe. 

In London, most that strikes the eye is the work of the present century. 
— G. A. Simcox. 

In London there has been no halt, no pause, no obscure epoch, dividing 
what was from what is. — Sarah B. Wisier. 

London looms before us, colossal, somber as a picture by Rembrandt. " The 
universe tends to this center. Like a heart to which blood flows, and from 
which it pours, money, good.s, business arrive hither from the four quarters 
of the globe, and flow thence to the distant poles.'' Loudon is the eye of 



LONDON. 



the world. Regarded from a myriad aspect, it still overawes us by its unre- 
alizable dimensions. It is the city of extremes — the home of the obscure 
and the great ; it ministers to the humility of the one and affords scope to the 
loftiest ambition of the other. . . . Here, indeed, is a boundless field for the 
archreologist, the man of letters, the historian, the antiquarian, and other 
investigators in a thousand fields of knowledge. — Corriliitt Magazine. 

gleaming lamps of London, that gem the city's crown, 
What fortunes lie within you, lights of London town. 

— George R. Sims. 

London is not one but ten or twelve great cities ; it is the only city in the 
world which is at once the center of a vast empire, the port of the commerce 
of the world, the seat of the finance of the world, the home of the oldest 
monarchy, of the oldest Parliament, and some of the oldest foundations, relig- 
ious, legal, and municipal, to be found in Europe. — Frederic Harrison. 

The intellectual man is struck with London as comprehending the whole 
of human life in all its variety, the contemplation of which is inexhaustible. 
— Boswell. 

That enormous city, grand beyond all other earthly grandeur, sublime 
with the sublimity of the sea or of mountains. — Tliomas Arnold, D.D. 

The very atmosphere of London, surcharged as it seems with the grand- 
est, fearfulest, proudest, and mournfulest memories of our common race. — 
Grace Greenwood. 

"When a man is tired of London he is tired of life ; for there is in London 
all that life cau afford. — Ben Jonson. 

I remember to have read in some philosopher (I believe in Tom Brown's 
works) that let a man's character, sentiments, or complexion be what it will, 
he can find company in London to match it. — Goldsmith. 

All English history, law, literature, religion, have met in London, and 
have radiated from London as from a common center. — Prof. James M. 
Hoppin. 

Where has pleasure such a field, 

So rich, so thronged, so drained, so well supplied, 

As London — opulent, enlarged, and still 

Increasing London ? — Cowper. 

city, founded by Dardanian hands, 

Whose towering front the circling realms commands, 

Too blest abode ! no loveliness we see 

In all the earth, but it abounds in thee. — Milton. 



8 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR 08 A CHS. 

Earth hath not any tiling to show more fair: 
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by 
A sight so touching in its majesty. 
This city now doth like a garment wear 
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, 
Ships, towers, domes, theaters, and temples lie 
Open unto the fields and to the sky ; 
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. 
Never did sun more beautifully steep, 
In his first splendor, valley, rock, or hill ; 
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! 
The river glideth at his own sweet will ; 
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; 
And all that mighty heart is lying still! — Wordsivorth. 
{Composed upon Westminster Bridge, Sejrtember ?>, 1803.) 

Among the places to which daily excursions may be easily 
made from London are Windsor, a country residence of the 
queen ; Hampton Court, built by Cardinal Wolsey, and inti- 
mately associated with the lives of English sovereigns down 
to the reign of the Georges ; Richmond, where Elizabeth 
often held her court, and where she died, March 24, 1603 ; 
Kew Gardens ; the Crystal Palace, at Sydenham ; and Dul- 
wich College, containing a famous picture gallery. 

The West End of London includes the fashionable portion 
of the city, and here are located the greater number of the 
public parks, squares, and buildings. 

The parks are for the use of the public, and are well 
patronized by poor people, invalids, and children. They 
are called " the lungs of London." 

Regent's Park lies between Marylebone Road and Prim- 
rose Hill. A drive-way, called the Outer Circle, extends 
around the park, which is one of the largest in London, and 
in the north-east portion of its extensive grounds is located 
the famous Zoological Gardens of London. 

Not far from and south of Regent's is Hyde Park, the 
favorite and fashionable resort of English aristocracy for 
walking, carriage and horseback riding. The principal hour 



LONDON. 9 

for driving is from five to seven in the afternoon, when 
Rotten Row, forming the southern boundary of the park, 
is thronged with elegant equipages. The principal hour for 
horseback riding is from twelve to two. The park contains 
three hundred and ninety acres, and is adjoined on the west 
by Kensington Gardens. 

The finest square in London is Trafalgar, containing the 
magnificent monument of Lord Nelson, erected in commem- 
oration of his death at Trafalgar, October 22, 1805. This 
square is located at the western terminus of the Strand, at 
the junction of several streets. 

While in London the queen resides at Buckingham Palace, 
the Prince of Wales at the Marlborough House. Both these 
buildings have a frontage on The Mall and St. James Park. 

Adjoining the Marlborough House, on the west, is St. 
James Palace, built by Henry VIII. in 1532. Here Queen 
Mary died November 17, 1558 ; here Charles I. spent the 
night preceding his execution, January 30, 1649; here re- 
sided the English monarchs from William III. to George IV.; 
and in its royal chapel Queen Victoria and Prince Albert 
were married February 10, 1840. 

The National Gallery, on Trafalgar Square ; the Royal 
Academy of Fine Arts, on Piccadilly ; the Grosvenor and 
the Dote Galleries, on New Bond Street, are among the 
many exhibitions of paintings by famous artists, both living 
and dead. The Turner collection, at the National Gallery, is 
very celebrated. 

The South Kensington Museum is only a short walk from 
Hyde Park. This museum was established in 1857, for the 
purpose of founding a school where men and women could 
be thoroughly instructed in the departments of art and sci- 
ence, also for "the purchase and exhibition of objects of 
art, and the establishment of art galleries." 

The present buildings of South Kensington Museum contain : 

1. The Museum of Ornamental or Applied Art, a collection of 20,000 



10 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

modern and mediaeval works of art, and plaster casts or electrotj'pe repro- 
ductions of ancient and modern works, partly belonging to the museum, 
and partly on loan. 

2. The National Gallery of British Art, or Picture Gallery, on the upper 
floor. 

3. The Art Library, consisting of 50,000 volumes, and a collection of 
17,000 drawings, 60,000 engravings, and 45,000 photographs. 

4. The School of Art, in which drawing, painting, and modeling are 
taught. — Baedeker's Guide-Book. 

The apartments appropriated to the National Gallery of 
British Art include the celebrated cartoons of Raphael, seven 
in number, representing scriptural subjects, and executed in 
1515-16; the famous Sheepshank's collection of pictures; 
and the " Historical Collection of British Water-Color 
Drawings." 

The Houses of Parliament are on the banks of the Thames, 
contiguous to Westminster Abbey and Westminster Bridge. 
These buildings cover eight acres, and contain 1,100 rooms, 
100 staircases, and 11 courts. The different apartments are 
variously adorned with statuary, paintings, frescoes, gothio 
decorations, mosaics, stained glass windows, and handsome 
furnishings. The principal rooms, open to the public every 
Saturday, are the House of Peers and House of Commons, 
Westminster Hall, Queen's Robing Room, Victoria Gallery, 
St. Stephen's Hall and Crypt. 

Westminster Hall, the oldest and most historical room, 
was founded by William Rufus in 1097. Here were held 
the earliest English Parliaments; here sentence of death was 
passed upon William Wallace, Sir Thomas More, Guy 
Fawkes, Charles I., and many other eminent Englishmen; 
here Oliver Cromwell was proclaimed Lord Protector in 
1653; here was held the famous trial of the impeachment of 
Warren Hastings, lasting from February 13, 1788, to April 
23, 1795. 

Westminster witnessed the coronation festivals of all the 
English monarchs until the reign of George IV. Previous 



LONDON. 11 



to 1882 the lord mayor's oath of office was annually admin- 
istered here. This ceremony is now performed at the Royal 
Courts of Justice, a magnificent block of buildings on the 
east end of the Strand, near Temple Bai\ 

The House of Lords and House of Commons form the 
British Parliament. The House of Lords includes lords 
spiritual, consisting of the Archbishops of Canterbury and 
York and twenty-four bishops; and lords temporal, consisting 
of dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons, numbering 
about five hundred, whose office is hereditary and held for 
life, unless forfeited by a criminal offense or by an act of 
Parliament. 

Scotland returns to this House sixteen peers, whose term 
is limited to a single Parliament. Ireland returns twenty- 
eight, who are chosen for life. 

The House of Commons is elective, and has six hundred 
and seventy members. 

It is the privilege of the queen to convoke, continue, or 
dissolve Parliament. 

According to custom the sessions are held annually during 
the first half of the year, convening daily at four P. M., ex- 
cept Wednesdays, when they sit from twelve to six, and 
Saturdays, when they are generally suspended altogether. 

The services of both lords and commons are gratuitous. 

The East End of London includes the business portions of 
the city. Here the commercial interests center, and the 
money is made. The principal public buildings are the 
Bank, Exchange, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Tower. 

Among the famous sights of this part of London are the 
docks. It is no unusual thing to see in them hundreds of 
vessels, with, perhaps, a thousand on the river. There are 
many days when three thousand men are required to do the 
work. 

The Bank of England, Royal Exchange, and Mansion 
House (the official residence of the lord mayor) are contig- 



12 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

nous to each other, at the junction of seven streets, and only 
a short distance from London Bridge. 

Inclosed by a net-work of sti'eets, with its grand entrance 
facing Ludgate Hill, stands the famous Cathedral of St. 
Paul's. The church was built during the administration of 
one bishop, and under the auspices of one master mason and 
one architect. It was erected between 1675 and 1710. The 
bills were paid from a tax levied on the coal brought into 
London during this period. The form of the church is a 
Latin cross. The nave is 500 feet long, the transept 250. 
The width of the nave is 118 feet, and the height from the 
pavement to the top of the cross surmounting the dome is 
365 feet. The great bell weighs 18 tons. Charlotte Bronte, 
during her first visit to London, thus speaks of it : 

The great bell of St. Paul's telling London it was midnight, and well do I 
recall the deep, deliberate tones, so fully charged with colossal phlegm and 
force. 

The diameter of the dome is 180 feet. 

When you near it the mighty dome is lost, but you have always an in- 
ward, all-pervading impression of its existence, as you have seen it a 
thousand times rising in dark majesty over the city; or as, lighted up by 
the sun, it is sometimes visible from the river, when all minor objects are 
obliterated in mist — A. J. C. Hair. 

The impressiveness of the interior lies in the vastness of 
its proportions. 

The monuments are mainly of distinguished naval and 
military officers. Among the exceptions are Samuel Johnson, 
the lexicographer; John Howard, the philanthropist; and 
Turner, the famous painter. The crypt contains the sar- 
cophagi of Lord Wellington and Lord Nelson. On marble 
slabs in the floor are engraved many celebrated names, in- 
cluding Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Edwin Landseer, and Sir 
Christopher Wren. The latter has the following inscription : 

Beneath lies Christopher Wren, the architect of this church and city, who 
lived more than ninety years, not for himself, but for the public. Reader, do 
you seek his monument? Look around you! 



LONDON. It 



St. Paul's appeared to me unspeakably grand and noble, and the more so 
from the throng and bustle continually going on around its base without in 
the least disturbing the sublime repose of its great dome, and, indeed, of all 
its massive height and breadth. Other edifices may crowd close to its 
foundation, and people may tramp as they like about it; but still the great 
cathedral is as quiet and serene as if it stood in the middle of Salisbury 
Plain. There cannot be any thing else in its way so good in the world as 
just this effect of St. Paul's in the very heart and densest tumult of London. 
. . . This cathedral was full of light, and the light was proper to it. There 
were no painted windows, no dim recesses, but a wide and airy space be- 
neath the dome; and even through the long perspective of the nave there 
was no obscurity, but one lofty and beautifully rounded arch succeeding to 
another, as far as the eye could reach. ... It is beautiful and grand. I 
love its remote distances and wide, clear spaces, its airy massiveness, its 
noble arches, its sky-like dome. — Haiothorne. 

The famous Tower of London is located on the banks of 
the Thames, near St. Katherine Docks. It is composed of 
several buildings, including thirteen towers, and covering 
thirteen acres. The White Tower is the oldest, having been 
built by William the Conqueror in 1078. The others have 
been added by different kings for different purposes. The 
Tower has been used as a royal palace, prison, and fortress. 
The custom of using the Tower as the residence of the reign- 
ing sovereign ceased on the accession of Elizabeth. 

As a prison, the Tower is identified with the most thrilling 
portion of English history. Here were confined the Scottish 
prisoners of war taken during the reign of Edwards I. and 
III. ; the victims of rival factions in the reign of Richard II. ; 
French prisoners captured by Henry V. at the battle of 
Agincourt, October 25, 1415 ; under the same king hundreds 
of Lollards, the name applied to the followers of John 
Wycliffe ; prisoners taken in the War of the Roses; hun- 
dreds of religious and political victims in the reign of Henry 
VIII.; wholesale consignments of Catholic divines and Jesuit 
priests in the reign of Elizabeth; the conspirators of the Gun- 
powder Plot in the reign of James I.; many noted person- 
ages in the reigns of Charles I. and II. After the latter 



U FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 



reign the imprisonments and executions in the Tower grad- 
ually decreased, although it was utilized as a prison until 
the time of the Georges. 

Many distinguished personages have, at different times, 
been confined in the Tower who were either beheaded or 
murdered w r ithin its walls, or taken thence to suffer an igno- 
minious death elsewhere. Among this number was William 
Wallace, who, August 23, 1305, was transferred from his 
prison cell in the Tower to Westminster Hall, there tried and 
condemned, and the same day beheaded at Sraithfield. 

The eminent Lollard, Sir John Oldcastle, better known as 
Lord Cobham, was taken from the Tower December 14, 1417, 
conveyed to St. Giles Fields, and there hung in chains on a 
gibbet over a slow fire, and roasted to death. 

The Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV., was put to 
death within the Tower, in 1478, by being drowned in a butt 
of malmsey. 

At the instigation of their uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, 
afterward Richard III., the two sons of Edward IV. were 
murdered in the Tower in 1483. 

The following persons were all executed within the walls, 
on a spot called Tower Hill : Sir Thomas More, an English 
statesman and philosopher, beheaded July 6, 1535; Anne 
Boleyn, second wife of Henry VI1L, beheaded May 19, 1536; 
Catharine Howard, fifth w r ife of same king, beheaded in 
1542 ; Lady Jane Grey, beheaded February 12, 1554. 

Sir Walter Raleigh w r as twice confined in the Tower, and 
during his first imprisonment, from 1G05 to 1617, wrote his 
Histori/ of the World. 

At the present time the Tower is used as a fort, arsenal, 
and repository for valuable historical relics ; also the crown 
jewels of England. 

The White Tower contains the arsenal and an extensive 
collection of relics, weapons, instruments of torture, and an- 
cient armors. The latter are very interesting, including 



LONDON. 15 



suits belonging to different kings, and many worn in famous 
battles, as Dunbar, Bannockburn, and Bosworth Field. 

Record or Wakefield Tower contains tbe crown jewels, and 
the gold plate used only at the coronation banquets. Their 
estimated value is £3,000,000, or $15,000,000. 

On the walls of Beauchamp Tower are ninety-two differ- 
ent names, inscriptions, and devices, placed there by prison- 
ers confined at different* times within its walls. 

At the north-west corner of the Tower is the Chapel of 
St. Peter. Beneath its pavement are buried thirty-five of 
the eminent men and woman executed on Tower Hill. 

The Tower shares with the castles of Windsor, Avignon, the Palazzo 
Yecehio, and the Kremlin, the rare peculiarity of being a mediaeval fortress 
of the first class which has not become a ruin or a fragment. But the 
Tower in its central part is far older than them all. The races which built 
the Kremlin and the minarets on the Bosphorus were wandering robbers 
sniff herdsmen when the White Tower was the home of the most powerful 
kings in Europe. — Frederic Harrison. 

The Tower of London ! How the scenes of England's history rise before 
the imagination, in which this old fortress, palace, and prison, by turns, has 
ri-Cured! It is a structure of which every part seems replete with story, 
and every step the visitor makes brings him to some point that lias an inter- 
est attached to it from its connection with the history of the past. 

The Tower has witnessed some of the proudest pageants of England's 
glory, and some of the blackest deeds of her tyranny and shame. The 
names of fair women, brave men, soldiers, sages, monarchs, and nobles, 

" Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past." 

are twined within its chronicles, and its hard, pitiless stones have frozen 
hope into despair in some of the noblest hearts that ever beat on English 
soil. — Curtis Guild. 

A mass of ramparts, walls, and gates, the most ancient and most poetic 
pile in Europe. Seen from the outside the Tower appears to be white with 
age and wrinkled by remorse. The home of our stoutest kings, the grave 
of our noblest knights, the scene of our gayest revels, the field of our dark- 
est crimes, that edifice speaks at once to the eye nnd to the soul. Gray 
keep, green tree, black gate, and frowning battlement stand out apart from 
all objects far and near them, menacing, picturesque, enchaining, working 
on the senses like a spell, and calling us away from our daily mood into a 



16 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 



world of romance, like that which we find painted in light and shadow on 
Shakespeare's page. . . . Standing on Tower Hill, looking down on the 
dark lines of wall, picking out keep and turret, bastion and ballium, 
chapel and belfry — the jewel-house, the armory, the mounts, the casements, 
the open leads — the bye-ward gate, the belfry, the bloody Tower — the whole 
edifice seems alive with story: the story of a nation's highest splendor, its 
deepest misery, and its darkest shame. The soil beneath your feet is richer 
in blood than many a great b.ittle-rield ; for out upon this sod has been 
poured, from generation to generation, a stream of the noblest life in our 
land. — William Hepworth Dixon. 

London Tower and the relics that recall the long list of tragedies of ambi- 
tious courts and kings. — Hezekiah Butterworth. 

This ancient pile, that is invested with more historic interest than any 
other European palace or prison. — Curtis Guild. 

Its true historical character is that of the seat of our early government, 
residence of the kings, and head-quarters of their forces. It is palace, fortress, 
council-hall, and treasure-house, quite as much as prison. . . . For live 
centuries, from the days of the first Normans to that of the last Tudor, it 
was from time to time the official residence of our kings, and hence the 
scene of much of our political history. — Frederic Harrison. 

Set against the Tower of London — with its eight hundred years of historic 
life, its nineteen hundred years of traditional fame — all other palaces and 
prisons appear like things of an hour. — William Hepworth Dixon. 

"When to-day we entered the Tower the dark and bloody history of En- 
gland was turned over rapidly and tangibly by the wizard of the past, as 
each object aroused its familiar and undoubted chronicle. . . . The crowning 
interest which belongs to the Tower is, that it has been the prison of those 
who dared to assert the rights of Englishmen, who stood up, in the face of 
arrogant kings, to proclaim that the people alone had the divine right to con- 
trol their own destiny. — 5. S. Cox. 

I saw before me ramparts, towers, circular and square, with battlemented 
summits, large sweeps and courses of fortifications, as well as straight and 
massive walls and chimneys behind them (all in great confusion — to my 
eye) of ancient and modern structure, and four loftier turrets rising in the 
midst; the whole great space surrounded by a broad, dry moat, which now 
seemed to be used as an ornamental walk bordered partly with trees. This 
was the Tower. — Hawthorne. 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 17 

II. 

THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



Siu Hans Sloaxe, a native of Ireland, eminent as a scien- 
tist, naturalist, and public benefactor, stipulated in his will 
that his " cabinet of curiosities," including an extensive col- 
lection of minerals, specimens of natural history, and dried 
plants, also his library of 50,000 volumes, and manuscripts 
numbering 3,500, should, after his death (which occurred in 
1753), be offered to the nation for £20,000, or $100,000. 

The government purchased the collection, which formed 
the nucleus of the British Museum. To this collection were 
added the vases and curiosities contributed by the English 
archaeologist, Sir William Hamilton ; the manuscripts, 8,000 
in number, belonging to the British statesman, Robert Har- 
ley; the Cottonian library funded by the English antiquary, 
Sir Robert Bruce. This valuable collection was then placed 
in the Montague House, on Great Russell Street, a magnifi- 
cent residence previously belongingto the Dukes of Montague. 

As years passed the treasures of the museum rapidly 
accumulated, and a larger building became a necessity. 

The present structure was built on the same site as the 
Montague House between 1823 and 1852. It covers seven 
acres, and has a frontage on Great Russell Street of three 
hundred and seventy feet. The museum is in the West End 
of London, only a short walk from the eastern terminus of 
New Oxford Street. The extent and value of its contents 
have been constantly increased by tlie liberality of successive 
Parliaments, and by extensive gifts and bequests. 

Since the completion of the South Kensington Museum, in 
1857, and the Natural History Museum, in 1880, its collections 
have been entirely devoted to antiquities. 



18 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

Fabulous prices have been paid in the purchase of curiosi- 
ties, historical relics, and antiquities. 

Extensive excavations and collections have been made for 
the museum under the direct management of the English 
government in both Egypt and Assyria. In 1845 Henry 
Austen Layard, an eminent English archa?ologist, went to 
Mosul, a town of Asiatic Turkey, on the west bank of the 
Tigris River, directly opposite Nineveh, the capital of ancient 
Assyria, for the purpose of making extensive explorations 
and excavations in this locality. In November, 1845, Mr. 
Layard commenced to excavate one of the seven large 
mounds which marked the site of ancient Nineveh. These 
mounds, which were located at the corners of a trapezium, 
about 18 miles long, 12 wide, and nearly 60 in circum- 
ference, had been, in 1820, surveyed and accurately de- 
scribed by Mr. C. J. Rich, of England. 

The first mound opened by Mr. Layard was at Birs Nim- 
rud, and he found it contained the ruins of several distinct 
edifices, consisting of " halls, chapibers, and galleries, paneled 
with sculptured and inscribed slabs, and opening one into 
another by door- ways, generally formed by pairs of colossal 
human-headed and winged bulls or lions." In 1849-50 
Mr. Layard was engaged in excavating the mound called 
Kouyunjik, which he found contained the palace built by 
Sennacherib, King of Assyria (B. C, 710). This palace cov- 
ered one hundred acres. About sixty different rooms were 
discovered by Layard, and the walls were covered with in- 
scriptions and bass-reliefs. Many of these inscriptions recount 
the wars of Sennacherib. At the entrance of twenty-seven 
of the door-ways discovered in this mound stood human- 
headed lions and buJls twenty feet in height. The contents 
of both of these mounds were, as far as it was practicable, 
transferred to the British Museum. 

William K. Loftus, another distinguished English archaeol- 
ogist, explored the sites of ancient cities on the Tigris and 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 10 

Euphrates from 1849 to 1852, and collected a quantity of an- 
tiquities which were all sent to this museum. 

George Smith, an English Oriental scholar who made the 
study of cuneiform text his sole occupation, spent some time 
in Nineveh, and obtained over three thousand inscriptions on 
stone tablets and alabaster slabs. Other eminent archaeolo- 
gists were sent from England to Nineveh, and important col- 
lections were made by them. All of the antiquities gathered 
by these men and sent to the museum are placed in chrono- 
logical order in the Assyrian Gallery. 

Charles Townley, an English collector of works of ancient 
art, during a residence of seven years in Rome, made a large 
collection of ancient marbles, vases, bronzes, coins, gems, 
which, after his death, was purchased by the English govern- 
ment and placed in the museum. 

There has been no stinting of expense in making this in- 
stitution what, without dispute, it certainly is, the finest 
antiquarian gallery in the world. In some departments it 
has no peer. 

All the ancient nations of the earth have contributed some- 
thing toward increasing the number and interest of the ex- 
tensive and wonderful collection of antiquities. 

No admission is charged in visiting the museum. With the 
exception of Sundays, Good Friday, and Christmas Day, the 
museum is open daily at ten A. M. The hour for closing 
varies with the seasons, but is never earlier than four P. M. 

If the tourist has plenty of time and wishes to make a 
careful study of the different collections he had better pur- 
chase one of the catalogues, always on sale in the museum, as 
they contain minute descriptions of every thing and are 
thoroughly reliable. 

The three most important departments in the museum 
are the Egyptian Gallery, the Assyrian Gallery, and the 
Elgin Room. In case of limited time these three should be 
visited to the exclusion of all the others. 



20 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TIIOSACIIS. 

The contents of the British Museum are at present arranged in eight 
sections, each under the special superintendence of an under-librarian, or 
keeper. These sections are as follows : Printed hooks (maps and plans), 
manuscripts, prints and drawings, Oriental antiquities, British and mediaeval 
antiquities and ethnography, Greek and Roman antiquities, coins and medals, 
and zoology. — Baedeker's Guide- Book. 

A national depository of science, literature, and art. ... A national insti- 
tution of which the English nation is justly proud, unrivaled in variety, ex- 
tent, and usefulness of its treasures by any similar institution in the world. 
— A merican Cyclopaedia. 

Priceless gifts and bequests, and purchases of large extent, have made 
the British Museum, with the labor of classification and description expend- 
ed upon it by generations of learned keepers and assistants, the great cen- 
ter of literature, art, archaeology, and science which we find it to-day. — 
Murray's Guide- Book. 

A noble building containing the most wonderful and varied collection, 
from books to statues, medals, relics, and objects of natural history, from 
all ages and countries, ever gathered in any one place upon the earth. — 
Morford's Guide-Book. 

The ancient sculptures in this museum are considered the most perfect in 
Europe. — Harper's Guide- Book. 

The colleciion of books, works of art, antiquities, and curiosities of every 
kind, is the largest to be found under one roof in the world. — Satchel 
Guide. 

Pays might be profitably and pleasantly passed in examining the different 
apartments. — Official Tourists' Guide. 

The grand receptacle for the arts in which are written the world's civiliza- 
tion. — Blackwood's Magazine. 

An immense collection of art and science. — Anne Gorham Everett. 

It is a noble institution, and nobly conducted. — D. C. Eddy. 

It is a world of wonders — an eternity of curiosities. — Grace Greenwood. 

It is on a magnificent scale, worthy this great nation. — Catherine M. Sedg- 
wick. 

The completest encyclopaedia in the world is the British Museum. — Bishop 
Gilbert Haven. 

To go through it is like walking through the avenues of a dead world. — 
Prof. James M. Hoppin. 

Trying to give the British Museum a thorough examination is somewhat 
of a formidable undertaking; for it requires several visits to get even a 
superficial view of its valuable contents. — Curtis Guild. 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 21 

The British Museum justly stands in the first class of rarities. — William 
Hatton. 

There is, perhaps, nothing in London which presents such a concentra- 
tion of interest to the intelligent aud curious stranger as the British Museum. 
It is a matchless collection of natural history, antiquities, and literature. — 
Wilbur Msk, B.I). 

That vast treasure-house of knowledge whose renown is world-wide, the 
British Museum. — Joel Cook. 

Only personal and often- repeated inspection, guided, too, by no inconsid- 
erable amount of acquired knowledge and tastes, can give an adequate idea 
of this wonderful store-house of objects brought hither from all parts of the 
globe. — J. Saunders. 

A world of wonders in antiquities and art. — Prof. J. S. Lee. 

It is worthy all the time one can give to it, if it be a month. — 0. R. Bur- 
chard, A. 31. 

The whole world and every age of man has contributed to its vast col- 
lections. — L. L. Holden. 

It really requires several visits to the museum, to comprehend its wealth 
of materials for the student in almost every branch of science and of study. 
— P. B. Cogswell 

The building is very fine, but the inside — that is every thing. — J. 0. 
Choules. 

This immense collection would of itself have occupied profitably our 
whole time in London. — Mrs. C. M. Kirkland. 

It was pleasant, indeed, to see the treasures of those galleries of the 
British Museum. — Margaret Fuller Ossoli. 

Since it is by the application of knowledge to practical life that progress 
is ever effected, the museum gives the means of better action, in giving ihe 
means of knowledge to the people. — T. Nichols. 

One need not go beyond the limits of the British Museum to be pro- 
foundly accomplished in all branches of science, art, and literature; only it 
would take a life-time to exhaust it in any one department. — Hawthorne. 

A collection of antiquities, such as that in the British Museum, presents 
an interest so varied that there is hardly any class of spectators that may 
not find there instruction and recreation. — C. T. Newton. 

Among the institutions of its kind in the British empire, and, indeed, in 
the whole world, no one takes precedence of the British Museum. — Andrew 
P. Peabody. 

You may travel through Mexico, Peru, and Chili for ten years, and in all 



22 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

that time never see one-hundredth part of the vestiges of their primitive 
life and history which you shall see in the British Museum. — M. D. Comvay. 

The British Museum is a magnificent building, and. for the treasures with 
which its halls are filled, certainly the grandest in the world. — Ida Pfeiffer. 

A sensation came over me as I stood among the veritable remains of 
Nineveh, Thebes, Greece, and Rome, such as I never realized before. They 
were to my mind the demonstration of history, sacred and profane. Let the 
deriders of the Bible visit the British Museum. I felt as if I saw what 
Jonah saw— very possibly I did; for he saw Nineveh before its ruin, and 
its ruins before me were the veritable ones of old. — William A. Drew. 

A poor man in London has great opportunities of cultivating himself if he 
will only make the best of them ; and such an institution as the British 
Museum can hardly fail to attract, as the magnet does steel, the minds that 
are likeliest to be benefited by it in its various departments. I saw many 
children there, and some ragged boys. — Hawthorne. 

The British Museum is not only the resort of the curious in antiquities 
and the studious in ancient and modern lore — it is also a great popular re- 
sort, an inestimable boon to the masses. — George M. Towle. 

The British Museum is filled to overflowing with almost countless "speci- 
mens," or examples, of work. The work is that of nature and that of man. 
— T. Nichols. 

The British Museum is an astonishing collection ; and very astonishing 
is the history of creation and the human family which it forms. Such, 
it strikes me, is the proper view in which to regard it ; it is a great many- 
chaptered work of authentic history, beginning on the existing one — taking 
up and pursuing through many sections the master production, man —exhib- 
iting in the Egyptian section, not only what he did, but what he was — illus- 
trating in the Grecian and Roman sections the perfectibility of his concep- 
tions in all that relates to external form — indicating in the Middle- Age sec- 
tion a refolding of his previously developed powers, as if they had shrunk 
under some chill and wintry influence — exhibiting in the concluding section 
a broader and more general blow of sentiment and faculty than that of his 
earlier spring-time — nay, demonstrating the fact of more confirmed maturity, 
in the very existence and arrangement of such a many-volumed history of 
the earth and its productions as this great collection constitutes. — Hugh 
Miller. 

From Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and Rome we see objects 
of wonderful interest standing as mute witnesses of the re- 
ligion, occupation, taste, wealth, and grandeur of those an- 
cient nations. 



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the inscription ox the eosetta stone. 



TUB BRITISH MUSEUM. 23 

Egypt contributes antiquities ranging from B. C. 3000 to 
A. D. 640. Among them we find the famous Rosetta Stone, 
discovered by a French officer in 1799 near the Rosetta 
mouth of the Nile. The stone is a black basalt tablet, 
three feet long, two and a half broad, and about ten inches 
thick. The inscriptions thereon are celebrated as furnishing 
the key by which the English physicist, Thomas Young, and 
the French Egyptologist, Champollion, translated the lan- 
guage of hieroglyphics into modern tongues. 

There are wonderful relics from Thebes and Memphis ; 
two colossal lions in red granite from Nubia ; statues in 
black granite, basalt, and sandstone ; idols, sarcophagi, and 
sacred animals in stone ; armors and weapons ; tombs belong- 
ing to the age of the Ptolemys and Rameses ; monuments of 
ancient sovereigns ; implements of industry ; ornaments, 
vases, and toys; mummies sufficient in number, if trans- 
formed into human beings, to people a thriving New En- 
gland village. 

Of those portions of the museum which illustrates the history of the 
human mind iu that of the arts, I was most impressed by the Egyptian sec- 
tion. The utensils which it exhibits that associate with the old domestici- 
ties of theEg3 r ptians — the little household implements which bad ministered 
to the lesser comforts of the subjects of the Pharaohs — seem really more 
curious — at any rate, more strange in their familiarity — than those exquisite 
productions of genius, the LaocQons, and Apollo Belvideres, and Venus de 
Medicis, and Phidian Jupiters, and Elgin Marbles, which the Greek and 
Roman sections exhibit. . . . What most impressed me. however, wore 
the Egyptians themselves — the men of three thousand years ago, still exist- 
ing entire in their frame-work of bone, muscle, and sinew. — Hugh Miller. 

The Egyptian Galleries contain an endless collection of antiquities from that 
ancient land. Prom Memphis there are old mouuments, fragments of 
statues, slabs with innumerable hieroglyphics ; while old Thebes, the cap- 
ital of ancient Egypt, seems to have been ransacked to have furnished slabs, 
stones, carvings, fragments of monuments, hieroglyphical inscriptions, and 
sarcophagi. In these galleries we saw the granite statue of Rameses II., 
the colossal granite head and shoulders from the Memnonimn at Thebes; 
the head of a colossal ram from an avenue of them which leads up to the 
gate-way of one of the great palaces at Karnak ; here were two granite 



24 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

lions from Nubia; a colossal head brought from Karnak byBelzjoni, and 
heaps of carved plunder stolen from old Egypt by British travelers and the 
British government; mummies, articles taken from mummy pits, ornaments, 
vases, Egyptian papyri, monuments cut by chisels two thousand years be- 
fore Christ; implements the very use of which can now only be surmised ; 
carvings of scenes in domestic life that are guessed at, and of battles, feasts, 
sieges, and triumphs, of which no other record exists — a wonder to the 
curious, and a not-yet-solved problem to the scholar. — Curtis Guild. 

The Egyptian remains are, on the whole, the more satisfactory ; for, 
though inconceivably ugly, they are at least miracles of size and ponderosity 
— for example, a hand and arm of polished granite as much as ten feet in 
length. . . . These gigantic statues are certainly very curious. I saw a 
hand and arm up to the shoulder fifteen feet in length, and made of some 
stone that seemed harder and heavier than granite, not having lost its polish 
in all the rough usage that it has undergone. There was a fist on a still 
larger scale, almost as big as a hogshead ; hideous, blubber-lipped faces of 
giants; and human shapes with beasts' heads on them. — Hawthorne. 

Among the most interesting objects from Assyria is a col- 
lection of bass-reliefs taken from the royal palace of Senna- 
cherib in Nineveh. Some of these reliefs " are executed in 
alabaster and some in light-gray limestone." Their date is 
B. C. 721-625, and they were excavated under the supervis- 
ion of Sir H. A. Layard from 1849-50. 

The monuments obtained by Mr. Layard from Kouyunjik are stated to 
date from the supposed era of the destruction of Nineveh, and were pro- 
cured from the remains of a very extensive Assyrian edifice, which appears, 
from the inscriptions remaining on many of its sculptures, to have been the 
palace of Sennacherib, who is presumed to have commenced his reign about 
B. C. 700. For the most part, these remains consist of large slabs of ala- 
baster on lime stone, covered with carved figures and inscriptions, which 
occupied the place of panels in the walls of the palace. One group of slabs, 
six in number, formed originally part of a series illustrating the architectural 
works of King Sennacherib, including, probably, the construction of the very 
edifice from which the slabs were obtained. On two of them is seen the con- 
veyance of a colossal human-headed bull, lying side- ways on a sledge, which 
is propelled over wooden rollers, partly by ropes in front, partly by a lever 
behind. On one side is a lofty mound, which laborers are erecting with 
stones or earth, and which is, perhaps, designed for the platform of tl.e 
future palace. The workmen are guarded by soldiers, and superintended by 
Sennacherib himself, in a chariot drawn by two men. A similar mound is 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 25 



represented on the next slab, with an adjoining stone qnariy or clay pit, 
where the material.; of construction are prepared; whilst on the succeeding 
one is a portion of a group moving some weighty object. On the next slab 
is another colossal bull, represented as before ; and on the last is depicted 
the monarch, in his chariot, directing some operation sculptured on a lost 
portion of the series. The background of the slabs exhibit men carrying 
axes, saws, ropes, and other implements; and along the top are representa- 
tions of the natural scenery of the country, water filled with fish, angiers 
floating on inflated skins, boats, banks lined with trees, and a jungle of reeds, 
in which are deer and a wild sow with her young. — Edirard Walford. 

Mr. Loftus, in his report, observes: "The excavations carried on at the 
western angle of the North Palace, Kouyunjik, continue to reveal many in- 
teresting and important facts, and to determine several points which were 
previously doubtful. . . . This highly interesting series of bass-reliefs, which 
has now been placed in a lower chamber in the British Museum . . . repre- 
sents the siege and capture of Lachish, as described in the Second Book of 
Kings, and in the inscriptions on the human-headed bulls. Sennacherib 
himself is seen seated on his throne, and receiving the submission of the 
inhabitants of the city, whilst he had sent his generals to demand the trib- 
ute of payment from Hezekiah. The defenders of the castle walls and the 
prisoners, tortured and crouching at the conqueror's feet, are Jews; and the 
sculptor has evidently endeavored to indicate the peculiar phj'siognomy of 
the race and dress of the people." — Museum of Antiquity. 

I passed through an Assyrian room, where the walls are lined with great 
slabs of marble sculptured in bass-relief with scenes in the life of Sennacherib, 
I believe; very ugly, to be sure, yet artistically done in their own style, and 
in wonderfully good preservation. Indeed, if the chisel had cut its last 
stroke in them yesterday, the work could not be more sharp and distinct. 
In glass cases, in this room, are little relics and scraps of utensils, and a 
great deal of fragmentary rubbish, dug up by Layard in his researches — 
things that it is hard to call any thing but trash, but which may be of great 
significance as indicating the modes of life of a long-past race. I remember 
nothing particular just now, except some pieces of broken glass, irridescent 
with certainly the most beautiful hues in the world — indescribably beautiful, 
and unimaginably, unless one can conceive of the colors of the rainbow and 
a thousand glorious sunsets, and the autumnal forestdeaves of America, all 
condensed upon a little fragment of a glass cup, and that, too, without be- 
coming in the least glaring or flagrant, but mildly glorious, as we may fancy 
the shifting hues of an angel's wing may be. I think this chaste splendor 
will glow in my memory for years to come. It is the effect of time, and can- 
uot be imitated by any known process of art. I have seen it in specimens 
3 



26 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 



of old Roman glass, which lias been famous here in England; but never in 
any thing is there the brilliancy of these Oriental fragments. How strange 
that decay, in these dark places, and under-ground, and where there are a 
billion chances to one that nobody will ever see its handiwork, should pro- 
duce these beautiful effects! The glass seems to become perfectly brittle, 
so that it would vanish, like a soap-bubble, if touched. — Hawthorne. 

From Greece and Rome there are Lusts, statues, sarcophagi, 
bass-reliefs, mosaics, and marbles. 

The Mausoleum Room contains the remains of the cele- 
brated Mausoleum ef Ilalicarnassus. This famous monu- 
ment was built B. C. 352, under the direction of Artemisia, 
in memory of her husband, Prince Mausolus. It was dis- 
covered at Ilalicarnassus, in Asia Minor, by Newton, in 1857, 
and is counted one of the Seven Wonders of the world. 

It was an edifice like an Ionic temple, raised on a lofty basement, and sur- 
mounted on a pyramid, with a chariot group on the summit. The whole 
was of Parian marble. Its architects were Satyros and Pythios. Font- 
great sculptors — Scopas, Leochares, Bryaxis, and Timotheos — were employed 
on its decorations; a fifth, probably Pythios, made the crowning chariot 
group. Prom its beauty the name of mausoleum came to be applied to all 
similar monuments. The Mausoleum of Ilalicarnassus is mentioned by 
Vitruvius, Pliny, and Lucian, and is alluded to as a still-existing wonder 
by Eustathius, who wrote in the twelfth century. — A. J. C. Hare. 

Four rooms are devoted to ancient vases. 

There are, perhaps, but few relics of antiquity which deserve, and indeed 
attract, greater notice then these venerable remains of ancient art. . . . 
To attempt to give an explanation of the different subjects displayed on Ihern 
would require a very great amount of classical knowledge; the greater part 
seemed related to the legends and rites of Bacchus, as the figures and attri- 
butes, nine out often, are connected with his worship; many of the subjects 
are taken from the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, or from the real or fabu- 
lous history of ancient Greece; some in the collection represent gymnastic 
games, and we are told that the reward of the victor was often the presen- 
tation of a simple earthen vase. The circumstance of the designs being bet- 
ter and more accurately executed on some of them on one side than the other, 
seem to denote that they were placed in some sacred depository, and not in- 
tended to be moved, as vases in common use; some have no bottom, and 
such are always of a long and narrow shape. Many of the designs on these 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 27 



vases would appear to have been executed when the grand style of art ex- 
isted, and the natural grace in the actions and movements of the figures is 
admirable. — British Museum Guide- Book. 

The Portland Vase, which is very famous, is kept in the 
Medal and Gold Ornament Room. Its name comes from the 
owner, the Duke of Portland. 

The vase was exhibited to the public down to 1845, when it was broken 
to pieces by a madman named Lloyd. It was afterward, however, so skill- 
fully reconstructed, that there is now scarcely any trace of the disaster. 
The vase, which is about one foot in height, is of a dark-blue glass, adorned 
with beautifully cut reliefs in opaque white glass, and was found in a tomb 
at Rome, in the early part of the seventeenth century. — Baedeker's Guide- 
Book. 

The museum contains an extensive collection of Anglo- 
Roman and Anglo-Saxon antiquities found in England; 
British antiquities belonging to the pre-Roman period; an- 
cient glass vessels, pottery, and majolica ware ; wonderful 
ivory carvings; a bronze room containing Etruscan, Greek, 
and Roman works; and the finest collection of gold orna- 
ments, gems, medals, and coins to be found in Europe. 

Lord Elgin, a British diplomatist, while embassador to 
Constantinople was granted the privilege by the Porte, or 
government of the Turkish empire, to take from the ruins of 
ancient Athens " any stones that might appear interesting to 
him." For ten years Lord Elgin was engaged in collecting 
specimens of sculpture taken mostly from the Parthenon at 
Athens. 

The Parthenon stood on the north side of the Acropolis, 
and was built (B. C. 440) by Ictinos, the celebrated Greek 
architect and contemporary of Pericles. 

The sculptures with which the Parthenon was so extensively 
decorated were executed under the direction of the famous 
sculptor Phidias, and have been pronounced the finest spec- 
imen of piastre art in the world. 

After making his collection Lord Elgin had them shipped 
to England. They were purchased by the English govern- 



28 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

ment in 1816 for £35,000, or $175,000, and placed in the 
British Museum, under the name of the Elgin Marbles. Tliey 
occupy an apartment by themselves called the Elgin Room. 

On entering the room we perceive on our left a model of the Parthenon, 
in the state in which it was left alter its bombardment by the Venetian 
General, Morosini, in 1687. Then follow the remains of the East Pediment, 
representing the birth of Athena, who, according to Greek mythology, 
issued in full armor from the head of Zeus. . . . The remains of the 
West Pediment are on the opposite side of the room. . . . The subject of 
the sculptures is the strife of Minerva and Neptune for the soil of Athens. 
. . . Around the whole of the hall, at a height of about four and a half 
feet from the ground, we observe the frieze (about one hundred and sev- 
enty-five yards long), which ran round the outside of the cella (or inner 
sanctuary) under the colonnade inclosing the Parthenon. It forms a con- 
nected whole, and represents chiefly, in very low relief, the festive proces- 
sion which ascended to the Acropolis at the end of the Panathensea, for the 
purpose of presenting to the goddess a peplos, or robe, woven and em- 
broidered by the Athenian virgins. . . . Above the frieze on the west wall 
of the room are fifteen Metopse. and a cast of another from the Parthenon, 
being the sculptures which rilled the intervals between the triglyphs of the 
external frieze. They represent the battle of the Centaurs and Lapitlne. — 
Baedeker's Guide-Bonk. 

The Elgin Marbles are now acknowledged to be the most precious col- 
lection existing of specimens of Greek art in its purest state. — Chambers's 
Encyclopaedia. 

The marvelous beauty of these reliefs, which was heightened by color, 
has been long familiar to all the world from numerous illustrated descrip- 
tions. — Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

The Elgin Marbles, executed by Phidias or under his direction, exhibit 
the highest development of Greek art in the maturity of its splendor. As 
types of beauty they have never been surpassed, and even in their present 
fragmentary and mutilated condition they afford models of form which the 
utmost efforts of modern art have not been able to equal. — American Cyclo- 
pcedia. 

The production of the greatest of Greek architects and sculptors. — Murray. 

Nothing in all art has yet equaled the sculptures of the Parthenon in 
poetical quality of the very highest order. — F. T. Falgrave. 

In the Elgin Marbles is seen the essence of a stj'le simple, natural, and 
grand. . . . They are such examples of art as no one can look upon with 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 29 

attention, without retiring from the examination with improved ideas of 
what is truly beautiful. — Sass. 

Human genius probably never showed itself in more perfect creations 
then these. — James Freeman Clarke. 

They are recognized as the masterpiece of Greek art in this or any other 
con d try. — Charles Knight- 

The Elgin Marbles, a collection of exquisite specimens of Grecian art, 
Which have been the wonder and admiration of sculptors, and of all who 
have taste to appreciate their beauty. — William A. Drew. 

The sculptures in the Elgin saloon confirm the highest judgment of the 
perfection which sculpture, as an art, reached among the Greeks ; even the 
fragments speak to us of their wonderful skill and taste, and the refinement 
of their conceptions of the beautiful. — George M. Towle. 

The loving conscientiousness witnessed in the execution of these noble 
works of ancient Greece is an expression of the true and beautiful in man's 
nature, seeking to satisfy the lofty claims of his higher self, and manifest- 
ing its ability so to do. — Lucy M. Mitchell. 

Were the Elgin Marbles lost there would be as great a gap in art, as there 
would be in philosophy if Newton had never existed. — Benjamin Ilaydon. 

The finest works of art ever produced by human genius. — Viardot. 

To believe it possible to surpass them, will always be not to know them. — 
Montesquieu. 

In these marbles all is truth, the highest truth. — Dannecker. 

It would be vain to attempt to point out the truly immeasurable wealth 
of beauty that is displayed in these most splendid of all frieze compositions. 
— Labke. 

Tiiese precious relics of art. — Viardot. 

Goethe thought himself happy to have lived long enough to see the 
Elgin Marbles; and in 1817 he made the proposition that every German 
sculptor should be helped to study in London, and if not to become a 
Phidias, at least to go to school with him. — Anon. 

Of the Elgin Marbles, "William H. Prescott said : " There are few living 
beings in whose society I have experienced so much real pleasure." 

The Italian, Canova, when asked to restore them, replied: "It would be 
a wanton sacrilege were I, or any one else, to touch these marbles with a 
chisel. Every piece breathes life with truth, and an extraordinary mastery 
of the art which -never parades itself." 

In the British Museum, among the Elgin Marbles, Phidias has carved a 
pile of heaped-up marble waves, and out of them rise the arms of Hyperion. 



30 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 






the most beautiful arms in the worid. Homesick for heaven, those weary 
arms try to free themselves of the clinging foam. Another minute and 
surely the triumphant god will leap from his watery couch and guide with 
unerring hands the coursers of the dawn. — Edward Strahan. 

However cursory our examination of the remains of these pediments, the 
ideal beauty and grace of ever}' part of the composition excite our wonder 
and admiration. — S. Nichols. 

The Elgin saloon may be called the true sanctuary of the British Museum 
. . . The marbles of the Parthenon belong to that supreme moment in the 
history of the arts of a polished nation, when with the innocence and purity 
of the early ages were combined the science, the grace, the force of the ma- 
ture epoch, as yet without any intermixture of the faults of the decadence. — 
Viardot. 

The Elgin Marbles exhibit in a remarkable degree all the qualities that 
constitute tine art — truth, beauty, and perfect execution. In the forms the 
most perfect, the most appropriate, and the most graceful have been se- 
lected. All that is coarse or vulgar is omitted, and that only is represented 
which unites the two essential qualities of truth and beauty. The result of 
this happy combination is what has been termed ideal beaut} - . — Museum of 
Antiquity. 

Phidias's adornment of the Parthenon was wonderful in beauty of design 
and execution, and if any work of his hand still remains it must be seen in 
some of the statues and relieoi which ornamented the exterior of this temple. 
These are wonderfully beautiful and truthful ; they display a perfect knowl- 
edge of anatomy, a skillful management of drapery, and a grand simplicity 
of style. — Mrs. Clement. 

The library of the museum is on the ground floor, and con- 
tains over one million printed volumes. With the exception 
of the Imperial Library at Paris, it is the largest collection 
of books in the world. Its resources are almost without lim- 
itation, and every department of literature is represented. 
Among the famous private bequests to this library is that of 
Sir Thomas Grenville, an eminent English statesman, who 
will always be remembered by Americans as the plenipoten- 
tiary who, at the close of the Revolutionary War, arranged 
with Dr. Benjamin Franklin the treaty between America 
and England. 

The Grenville Library contains twenty thousand volumes, 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 31 



and is an exceedingly rich collection of rare books. It occu- 
pies an entire apartment. 

A special room is also devoted to what is called the Royal 
Library, containing eighty thousand volumes. These books 
were collected by George III., and presented to the English 
nation by his son and successor, George IV. They include 
many wonderful specimens of early printing from Germany, 
Italy, France, and England. 

The Manuscript Department, comprising about fifty thou- 
sand volumes, forms an attractive feature of the library. 
Some of the choicest specimens are exhibited in glass cases 
in an apartment called the Manuscript Room. Among them 
we find a volume of the Codex Alexandrinus, an ancient 
manuscript of the Bible written in 464, and so named be- 
cause found at Alexandria, Egypt — it is one of the two oldest 
'manuscripts of any portion of the Bible now in existence; 
a copy of the Koran and Vulgate ; a large collection of 
Oriental manuscripts in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, and other 
ancient languages, some of which are of priceless value; the 
original Magna Charta, or " Charter of Liberties," signed so 
unwillingly by King John, at Runnymede, June 15th, 1215; 
royal documents bearing the signatures of the Saxon King 
Edgar, Canute, Edward the Confessor, and other sovereigns 
reigning from the ninth to the fourteenth century; a mort- 
gage deed dated 1613, and signed by William Shakespeare; 
a pen-and-ink sketch, drawn by Lord Nelson, of the battle 
of the Nile, fought on Aboukir Bay August 1st, 1798; a dis- 
patch written by the Duke of Wellington on the eve of the 
battle of Waterloo; a deed of sale written out and signed by 
John Milton, 1067, for the disposal of his poem "Paradise 
Lost," the price stated being "five pounds down, five pounds 
more when thirteen hundred are sold, and five pounds ad- 
ditional for each additional thirteen hundred sold ; " prayer- 
books belonging to Lady Jane Grey and Queen Elizabeth; 
the will of Mary Queen of Scots; diary kept by the English 



32 FROM TIIE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 



philosopher, John Locke; a note-book belonging to the hand- 
some and accomplished Duke of Monmouth, an unsuccessful 
aspirant to the English crown, executed at London, July 15, 
1685 ; original manuscripts of some of the works of Tasso, 
Locke, Scott, Samuel Johnson, Macaulay, Pope, and many 
more equally famous; and autographs of eminent English- 
men and foreigners almost without number. 

In connection with tlie library is the large and magnifi- 
cently equipped Reading-room. Here are kept the library 
catalogues, which comprise about ten thousand ponderous 
volumes, books of reference numbering about twenty thou- 
sand, while from the floor to the curve of the immense dome 
surmounting the room the sides are lined with books, 
arranged " shelves on shelves, tier after tier, section after 
section, story on story." The readers sit at long tables 
which accommodate three hundred and sixty persons, and 
each one is provided with all articles requisite for writing. 

The floor is so constructed that the sound of footsteps is 
deadened. 

The average yearly patronage of the Reading-room is be- 
tween seventy-five and one hundred thousand people. 

Thus is this splendid boon given to the nation by the nation, surrounded 
by every accessory to render its use easy and practicable, its occupancy 
cheerful and comfortable, and its sphere harmonious with the purpose for 
which it exists. That it is appreciated, one only needs to look through the 
glass door and observe the human busy bees sucking in the sweets which 
they find in books. . . . With all the English conservatism and hesitation 
in establishing popular institutions, and love of restricting and hedging 
about with conditions and qualifications great public privileges, no city of 
our own republic can show a more substantia] or more liberally managed 
public benefit than thn Reading-room. The reality of its freedom, its order, 
and its entire adaptability to answer its purpose impresses one. Here is one 
place, without fee or favor, where the humble student and the foreign 
scholar may partake of, and luxuriate in, the wealth of England; may par- 
ticipate in the marvelous range of lore, in every tongue, of every art and 
science, which her wealth, nobly bestowed, has collected. I can think of 
no happier destiny for the ardent lover of books, for a historian, a man of 
science, a statistician, a novelist, or a mere student absorptive but not fruit- 



THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



33 



fui, than to have cozy lodgings in the vicinity of Russell Square, a satisfac- 
tory English landlady, and a ticket daily used to the Reading-room. He 
may sit in one of the roomy fauteuils as luxuriously as the West End lord 
in his velvet-lined mahogany, and may look round with a sense of owner- 
ship (for their use and fruit are freely his), upon a far prouder possession of 
learning than the greatest West End lord can boast. He is in goodly com- 
pany; for here burrow almost invariably the scholars, romancers, philos- 
ophers of England. He sits, co-equal in his privileges with the British 
aristocracy of brain. He is served as faithfully and as quickly as is the 
minister of state by his favorite private secretaries. There is the whole 
day long to revel, uninterrupted if he will, in his beloved studies, in a tran- 
quil and studious sphere, out of the hearing of the bustle of the streets, 
though here is busiest London roaring all about him. If he grows weary 
for the while of his books and the quiet, he may walk out and wander 
through those seemingly endless corridors where are literally crowded the 
antiquities of Egypt and of Phoenicia, of Antioch and Afghanistan, of 
Athens and Rome; where are collected the marvels of geology and of 
mechanical science, of biology and the arts, ancient, mediieval, and modern. 
He may read up his subject in the Reading-room, and, stepping into a neigh- 
boring corridor find it practically illustrated in the glass cases which sur- 
round him. — G. M. Towle. 




head of chariot horse.— Assyrian. 



34 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TliOSACHS. 



III. 

WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 



"Victory or Westminster Abbey ! " was the cry of Lord 
Nelson, on the eve of the battle of Cape St. Vincent. 

The church forming the inspiration of these words is situ- 
ated in the West End of London, near the Houses of Parlia- 
ment and Westminster Bridge. 

The name originated from its locality, and the Latin word 
monasterium or minster. 

Twelve centuries ago the land in this vicinity was low and 
marshy, and the s*pot now occupied by the abbey an island 
overgrown by thorns, called Isle of Thorns. Here a church 
was built by the Anglo-Saxon king Sebert, sometime be- 
tween 604 and 016, in honor of St. Peter; an act which, 
according to tradition, received the approval of Heaven, its 
dedicatory services being conducted by this honored saint, 
assisted by angels. The story is thus told by Dean Stanley, 
in his interesting Memorials of Westminster Abbey : 

It was on a certain Sunday night in the reign of King Sebert, the eve of 
the day fixed by Mellitus, first Bishop of London, for the consecration 
of the original monastery in the Isle of Thorns, that a fisherman of the 
name of Edric was easting his nets from the shore of the island into the 
Thames. On the other side of the river, where Lambeth now stands, a 
bright light attracted his notice. He crossed, and found a venerable per- 
sonage, in foreign attire, calling for some one to ferry him over the dark 
stream. Edric consented. The stranger landed, and proceeded at once to 
the church. On his way he evoked with his staff the two springs of the 
island. The air suddenly became bright with a celestial splendor. The 
building stood out clear, "without darkness or shadow." A host of angels, 
descending and reaseending, with sweet odors and flaming candles, assisted, 
and the church was dedicated with the usual solemnities. The fisherman 
remained in his boat, so awe-struck by the sight, that when the mysterious 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 35 



visitant returned and asked for food, he was obliged to reply that lie had 
caught not a single fish. Then the stranger revealed his name: " I am Peter, 
keeper of the keys of heaven. When Mellitus arrives to-morrow tell him 
what you have seen; and show him the token that I, St. Peter, have con- 
secrated my own church of St. Peter, "Westminster, and have anticipated 
the Bishop of Loudon. For yourself, go out into the river; you will catch 
a plentiful supply of fish, whereof the greater part shall be salmon. This I 
have granted on two conditions : first, that you never fish again on Sundays • 
secondly, that you pay a tithe of them to the Abbey of Westminster." The 
next day at dawn the Bishop Mellitu? rises and "begins to prepare the 
anointing oils and the utensils for the dedication." He, with the king, arrives 
at the appointed hour. At the door they are met by Edric, with the sal- 
mon in his hand, which he presents "from St. Peter in a gentle manner to 
the bishop." He then proceeds to point out the marks " of the twelve crosses 
on the church, the walls within and without moistened with holy water, 
the letters of the Greek alphabet written twice over distinctly on the sand 
of the now sacred island, " the traces of the oil, and (chiefest of the miracles) 
the droppings of the angelic candles." The b'.shop professed himself entirely 
convinced, and returned from the church ''satisfied that the dedication had 
been performed sufficiently, better and in a more saintly fashion than a 
hundred such as he could have done." 

This church was destroyed by the Danes during the reign 
of Alfred the Great, and was rebuilt by King Edgar, reign- 
ing from 959 to 975. 

In 1050 Edward III, surnamed the Confessor, a zealous 
Catholic, utterly demolished the old and built a new abbey, 
" to the honor of God and St. Peter and all God's saints." 
It cost one tenth of the property of the kingdom, and was 
fifteen years in building, being consecrated December 28, 1065. 

The first public ceremonies held after its consecration were 
-the burial services of its founder, the Confessor, who was in- 
terred under the high altar of the abbey, January 6, 1066. 

The following December, standing in front of this same 
altar, William the Conqueror was crowned King of England, 
and the Norman dynasty established, which continued eighty- 
eight years. 

In the latter part of the thirteenth century Henry III., 
fourth in the Plantagenet line, a zealous devotee of religion 



FR O.U THE THAMES TO THE TROSACIIS. 



and art, conceived the plan of rebuilding St. Peter's; also of 
making it a sepulcher for English kings and queens. Ac- 
cordingly the church of the Confessor was pulled down and 
the present abbey erected on its foundation, the most skillful 
workmen being employed to make it the grandest and most 
artistic specimen of architecture the world had ever seen. 

The bills were paid from the royal treasury, and so ex- 
travagant were the demands for money, that the people re- 
belled, and from this rebellion originated the House of Com- 
mons, composed of knights, citizens, and burgesses, and 
forming to-day the Lower House of the English Parliament. 

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries changes and addi- 
tions were made, but the abbey remains to-day essentially the 
same as when erected by Henry HI. 

No sovereign ever manifested greater interest in the abbey 
than Queen Elizabeth, who, in 1560, made it a collegiate as 
well as an ecclesiastical institution, by founding St. Peter's 
College. Dry den, Locke, Ben Jonson, Cowper, Southey, 
and many other eminent Englishmen have been educated at 
this college. The boarders are called " Queen's scholars," 
the day students, " oppidans, or town boys." 

With Elizabeth originated the idea of the Poets' Corner. 

During her reign the plan of making Westminster a tem- 
ple of fame for the interment of those whom the nation 
might wish to crown with especial honor was distinctly rec- 
ognized and established, and the right of private individuals 
to erect monuments was also granted. 

The bells of Westminster are always rung on the anniver- 
sary of Elizabeth's accession to the throne. 

At different times during the Reformation and the Pro- 
tectorate of Oliver Cromwell the abbey was exposed to the 
fury of mobs, but in every instance escaped general destruc- 
tion, and in all the various vicissitudes of its momentous 
history it has always sustained and observed the rites and 
ceremonies of religious worship. 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 



37 



With few exceptions, the royal coronations from William 
the Conqueror, December 25, 1066, to Queen Victoria, June 
28, 1838, have taken place at Westminster. 

March 31, 1559, the House of Lords and Commons met in 
Westminster to hear a discussion carried on between eight 
eminent Catholics and eight eminent Protestants regarding 
certain theories and forms of worship. This meeting is 
celebrated as being the last open conflict between the Church 
of Rome and the Church of England. 

Dean Stanley, well known on both sides of the Atlantic, 
was for seventeen years (1863 to 1880) Dean of Westminster, 
and is buried in the abbey. His zealous devotion to its 
interest added fresh honors to the many already acquired. 

After the death of General Grant memorial services were 
held at Westminster, conducted by Canon Farrar, who deliv- 
ered a eulogy on Grant. 



PLAN OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 





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2. Choir. 






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3. North and South Transepts. 










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A 




}( 


6. Nortli and South Ambulatory. 
"ji 7. Henry VII. 's chapel. 

8. Cloisters. 


_1 


4 






9. Deanery. 
10. Jerusalem Chamber. 


3 




2/j 


3 H 


11. Chapter-house. 

A. Coronation chair. 






E 










2 

F 






B. Poets' Corner. 






0. Tomb of Queen Elizabeth. 








P. Tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots. 




M, 


8 


E. Wesley Memorial. 
P. Isaac Watts. 
G-. Longfellow. 
II. Dickens. 
I. Cradle tomb to the Princess Sophia 










J 

K 

L 


9 


J. Charles Kingsley. 
K. Wordsworth. 
- L. Keble. 










IO| 


M. Ben Jonson. 



38 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

Westminster Abbey, with its chapels of rich and delicate carvings, its 
decorated choirs, its nave and transepts, its aisles and corridors, and, above 
all, its beautiful " Poets' Corner," all crowded full of monuments and statues 
and busts of England's worthies. — Prof. J. S. Lee. 

It is at once a sepulcher and a sanctuary. — Rev. J. E. Edwards. 

Nothing can be more solemn and impressive than to linger in this gloom}' 
old abbey till the twilight hour, and then creep along its pavement when 
naught is heard save the solitary echo of your own footsteps and dirge-like 
chime of the bells in the church-tower. — Rev. J. E. Edwards. 

This solemn city of the dead. — Mrs. Sigourney. 

Westminster Abbey, . . . where repose the sacred ashes of those wl ose 
names have become household words among so many of us. — Rapid Transit 
A broad. 

The most renowned mausoleum on earth. — William Winter. 

One of the most interesting buildings in Europe. — 0. R. Burchard, A.M. 

This historic fane. . . . "The shrine of the nations." ... "A living 
sermon in stone." — W. W. Ntvin. • 

Westminster Abbey is the history of England made visible. — Louise C. 
Moidton. 

It was not the somber grandeur of the minster which fell upon me with 
most power, but the shadows of dead ages that haunted it. — Grace Green- 
wood. 

It is rather a monumental temple, consecrated to emineuce and genius, 
than a temple of worship. — Wilbur Fish; D.D. 

That august mausoleum of the mighty dead. — Elihu Burritt. 

Probably the greatest collection of memorials to departed genius ever gath- 
ered in any age or in any land. — Henry Morford. 

The very grouping of so many cherished names and effigies awes the 
mind with a blended sense of the magic of fame and the transitory condi- 
tions of its achievements. — Henry T. Tucker man. 

The grand contemplation in Westminster Abbey is the graves of the 
famous dead that have been gathering there for nearly eight centuries. No 
temple in the world can present any thing like it. — Joel Cook. 

The nation has set it apart as the pantheon of its illustrious dead. — Max 
Schlesinger. 

No descendant of the Anglo-Saxon race can look upon the gray towers 
and time-worn walls of the abbey, as lie approaches it, without feeling the 
most intense interest. — J. P. Durbin, D.D. 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 39 

There is much embodied history in the abbey — facts recorded in stone. — 
Catharine M. Sedgivick. 

There is no part of the church that can be taken in at a glance. — Sarah 
B. Wister. 

That one building so fraught with historic interest as to be worth a jour- 
ney across the ocean to see — the last resting-place of kings, queens, princes, 
poets, warriors, artists, sculptors, -and divines, the great pantheon of En- 
gland's glory — Westminster Abbey. — Curtis Guild. 

This place of tombs dedicated to the immortal on earth. — Joaquin Miller. 

The great national mausoleum in which every Englishman, distinguished 
for talents, titles, or influence, deems it a supreme honor to be interred. — 
Zachariah Allen. 

The halo shed over these tombs by both the living and the dead has 
given the place a celebrity as wide as the confines of the earth. — Benjamin 
Moran. 

There is nothing in England in the way of architecture more striking or 
grand. The beautiful is not always" the grand, nor the grand the beautiful. 
Westminster Abbey is both. — I). E. Locke. 

A magnificent Gothic church, but it is far more interesting as the only 
national place of sepulture in the world — the only spot whose monuments 
epitomize a people's history. — Satchel Guide. 

Westminster Abbey, with its royal burial-vaults and long series of monu- 
ments to celebrated men, is not unreasonably regarded by the English as 
their national Walhalla, or temple of fame; and interment within it walls 
is considered the last and greatest honor which the nation can bestow on 
the most deserving of her offspring. — Baedeker's Guide-Book. 

A wonder of architectural beauty is on every side. — Hazel Shepherd. 

Perhaps there is no other religious structure in the world which awakens 
so many heart-stirring emotions, or which can boast so many exquisite 
specimens of ancient art, or so many interesting monuments to the illus- 
trious dead. — J. H. Jesse. 

lu whatever point of view it be contemplated, it excites the kindred emo- 
tions of veneration and respect; but when considered under all its different 
relations, as associated with religion, with history, with science, and with 
art, it assumes a character of such an extensive range and combination, that 
great address and many attainments are indispensably required to render 
due justice to its importance. — History of St. Peter s Church. 

Westminster Abbey is the center to which every eye that longs to visit 
London reverently turns. It repays the reverence by its contents no less 
than by itself. — Gilbert Haven. 



40 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 






Westminster Abbey — its time-browned old walls have looked down on 
the regal coronation, the earthly glory of the monarch, and received within 
their cold embrace his powerless ashes, and bear upon their enduring sides 
man's last vanity — his epitaph. — Curtis Guild. 

Westminster Abbey is more than a witness of history. It is itself a his- 
tory. . . . Some German writer has, with peculiar though mystical beauty, 
defined architecture as " frozen music." Westminster Abbey may be re- 
garded as a magnificent anthem of praise to God, petrified, and so perpetu- 
ated through many centuries. — Lyman Abbott. 

Westminster Abbey, a mellow, picturesque old place, the interior arrange- 
ments of which affects one like some ancient, dilapidated forest. Even the 
sunlight streaming through the dim windows, and falling athwart the misty 
air, was like the sunlight of a long gone age. — Scribner's Monthly. 

One writer expresses himself very pertinently and descriptive of the 
reality when he says of this edifice: "It appears as if the artist had in- 
tended to give stone the character of embroidery, and inclose the walls 
within the meshes of lace-work." 

vThe glorious abbey that all English and American boys and girls should 
love ; for that abbey is the record of the growth of our two great nations. 
Within its walls we are on common ground; we are in " goodly company ; " 
among those who by their words and deeds and examples have made En- 
gland and America what they are. — Rose G. Kingsley. 

To be buried in Westminster, to enter immortality through this " Beau- 
tiful Gate," to sleep in the same mausoleum with so many honored and 
honorable dead, is the highest ambition of the Englishman. — Lyman Abbott. 

Imagine a temple marked with the hand of antiquity, solemn as religious 
awe, adorned with all the magnificence of barbarous profusion, dim win- 
dows, fretted pillars, long colonnades, and dark ceilings. Think, then, what 
were my sensations at being introduced to such a scene. I stood in the 
midst of the temple and threw my eyes round on the walls, filled with the 
statues, the inscriptions, and the monuments of the dead. Alas ! I said to 
myself, how does pride attend the puny child of dust even to the grave ! Even 
humble as I am, I possess more consequence in the present scene than the 
greatest hero of them all ; they have toiled for an hour to gain a transient 
immortality, and are at length retired to the grave, where they have no at- 
tendant but the worm, none to flatter but the epitaph. — Oliver Goldsmith. 

Westminster Abbey. The party entered at the western entrance, which 
commands an awesome, almost oppressive, view of the interior. In the 
softened light of the stained windows rose a forest of columns, rich with art 
and grandly gloomy with the associations of antiquity. Far, far away it 




TIIK CORONATION CHAIR, WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 41 

stretched to the Chapel of Edward the Confessor, a name that led the mind 
through the faded pomps of the past, almost a thousand years. Monuments 
of kings and queens, benefactors and poets, beginning with old Edward the 
Confessor, and coming down to the Stuarts ; of Eleanor, who sucked the 
poison from her husband's wounds, and Philippa, who saved the heroes of 
Calais. Here Bloody Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and Mary Queen of Scots 
sleep in peace in the same chapel ; and here the merry monarch, Charles If., 
lies among the kingly tombs without a slab to mark the place. — Hezekiak 
ButtenvorUi. 

We push open the doors under the central archway of Solomon's Porch. 
. . . "Wc find ourselves in a sweet, mellow silence in a dim tender light, in a 
vast airy stillness, such as you find at noontide in the depths of a beech 
forest. But here the boles of the beech-trees are huge pillars of stone — the 
branches are graceful pointed arches that spring from them, and vaultings 
and ribs that flash with gold through the blue mist that hangs forever about 
the roof a hundred feet overhead. Outside the abbey surge the waves of 
a great city. We hear the roar and turmoil of its restless life breaking like 
distant surf upon the shore. But within these walls we are still and peace- 
ful — and, if we will, we may read in " brass and stony monuments " the 
story not only of England's worthies, but of her religion, her politics, her art, 
and her literature, for full eight hundred years. — Rose G. Kingsley. 

The threshold passed, the hurrying world is left behind. The hum of 
industry, the subdued noise of carriages and commercial life steal in, but 
the sound, like the listeners, is toned into accord with the place. The dead 
control the living. — T. W. Silloway and L. L. Powers. 

Arches above arches, opening through and through, crossing and inter- 
lacing above ; crowding chapels and shrines; pillars and galleries exquisite 
in far distance with groinings and fretwork ; old, worn, massive thresholds 
and door-posts and lintels; pavements uneven, yet smooth with the tread 
of centuries; hushed chambers and crypts, where still strange effigies lay ; 
long, aisled chapels, rich with carving, and marble, and stained-glass — hung 
with old banners, and silent like the buried years; names of kings and 
queens and heroes; weird symbolic devices, . . . inscriptions of love and 
honor, adornments of gold and brass, engraven and sculptured escutcheons, 
trophies and relics of arms — a world like this lying shut away within the 
noise and stir of the every-day world of the living — the memory of a nation 
hidden in a heart-stillness behind its present, as every separate human 
memory is hidden. — Mrs. Whitney. 

I walked through Poets' Corner and saw many a familiar name on the 
walls. . . . There was poor Goldsmith; he had been my companion for 
thirty years. . . . There, too, was Addison, whom I had known so long. . . . 
4 



42 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSAGIIS. 

There were Gay and Prior and Cowley and Thomson and Chancer and 
Spenser and Milton. — Hugh Miller. 

I pursued my walk to an arched door opening to the interior of the 
abbey. On entering- here, the magnitude of the building breaks fully 
upon the mind, contrasted with the vaults of the cloisters. The eyes gaze 
with wonder at clustered columns of gigantic dimensions, with arches 
springing from them to such an amazing height: and man wandering about 
their bases, shrunk into insignificance in comparison with his own handi- 
work. The spaciousness and gloom of this vast edifice produce a profound 
and mysterious awe. We step cautiously and softly about, as if fearful of 
disturbing the hallowed silence of the tomb; while every foot-fall whis- 
pers along the walls, and shatters among the sepulchers, making us more 
sensible of the quiet we have interrupted. It seems as if the awful Dature 
of the place presses down upon the soul, and hushes the beholder into noise- 
less reverence. We feel that we are surrounded by the congregated bones of 
the great men of past times, who have filled history with their deeds, and 
earth with their renown. ... It is, indeed, the empire of death — his great 
shadowy palace, where he sits in state, mocking at the relics of human 
glory, and spreading dust and forgetfulness on the monuments of princes. 
— Washington Irving. 

Out from an unusually bright day for London, we stepped in beneath the 
lofty arches, lighted by great windows of stained glass, glowing far above 
in colored sermons and religious stories; and from this point — the western 
entrance — a superb view may be had of the interior. Stretching far before 
us is the magnificent colonnade of pillars, a perfect arcade of columns, termi- 
nating with the Chapel of Edward the Confessor, at the eastern extremity, 
and the whole interior so admirably lighted that every object is well brought 
out and clearly visible. In whichever direction the footsteps may incline, 
one is brought before the last mementoes of the choicest dust of England. 
Here they lie — sovereigns, poets, warriors, divines, authors, heroes, and 
philosophers; wise and pure minded men, vulgar and sensual tyrants; 
those who in the fullness of years have calmly passed away, '-rich in that 
hope that triumphs over pain," and those whom the dagger of the assassin 
and the ax of the executioner and the bullet of the battle-field cut down in 
their prime. Sovereign, priest, soldier, and citizen slumber side by side, 
laid low by the great leveler — Death. — Curtis Guild. 

It was sweet to feel its venerable quietude, its long-enduring peace, and 
yet to observe how kindly and even cheerfully it received the sunshine of 
to-day, which fell from the great windows into the fretted aisles and arches 
that laid aside somewhat of their aged gloom to welcome it. ... A square 
of golden light lav on the somber uavement of the nave, afar off, falling 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 43 

through the grand western entrance, the folding leaves of which were wide 
open, and afforded glimpses of people passing to and fro in the outer world, 
while we sat dimly developed in the solemnity of antique devotion. In the 
south transept, there were painted glass windows, of which the uppermost 
appeared to be a great orb of mauy-eolored radiance, being, indeed, a 
cluster of saints and angels whose glorilied bodies formed the. rays of an 
aureole emanating from a cross in the midst. These windows are modern, 
but combine softness with wonderful brilliancy of effect. Through the 
pillows and arches I saw that the walls in that distant region of the edifice 
were almost wholly incrusted with marble, now grown yellow with time, 
no blank, unlettered slabs, but memorials of such men as their respective 
generations deemed wisest aud bravest. — Hawthorne. 

What a glorious galaxy of genius is here collected — what a constellation 
of stars whose light is immortal! The mind is fettered by their spirit, 
every thing is forgotten but the mighty dead, who still <: rule us from their 
urns." — Bayard Taylor. 

All of the European churches, with a few exceptions, are 
built in the form of a cross. 

The nave is formed by the lower part of the cross, the 
chancel by the upper, the transepts by the arms, and the 
choir by the space formed by the intersection of the cross. 
Usually the services are held in the choir. 

The dimensions of Westminster Abbey are:, Length, in- 
cluding Henry VII. 's Chapel, 513 feet; width of transepts, 
200; length of nave, 116; breadth, including aisles, 75; height 
of the church, 102; towers, 225. 

The abbey contains the royal tombs of the Plantagenets, 
the House of Lancaster, the Tudors, the Stuarts, the Common- 
wealth, and the House of Hanover ; and here are placed me- 
morial tablets of eminent English statesmen, philanthropists, 
poets, divines, men of letters and science, actors, artists, and 
musicians, some of whom are buried here, and some are not. 

The courtiers and officers of Richard IH.'s court were the 
first men "not of royal blood" buried in the abbey. The 
idea thus instituted developed slowly, and although ob- 
served by Henry V. and VII., was not firmly established 
until the time of Elizabeth. 



44 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

Henry VII. 's Chapel, which Lord Bacon styled " one of 
the stateliest and daintiest tombs in Europe," was founded 
by that king in 1502, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and es- 
pecially designed as a sepulcher for members of the royal 
family. 

The chapel includes a nave with aisles on either side, and 
five small chapels at the end. 

A flight of steps lead up to it, through a deep and gloomj', but magnifi- 
cent, arch. Great gates of brass, richly and delicately wrought, turn heav- 
ily upon their hinges, as if proudly reluctant to admit the feet of common 
mortals into this most gorgeous of sepulchers. On entering, the eye is 
astonished by the pomp of architecture, and the elaborate beauty of sculpt- 
ured detail. The very walls are wrought into universal ornament, in- 
crusted with tracery, and scooped into niches, crowded with statues of 
saints and martyrs. Stone seems, by the cunning labor of the chisel, to 
have been robbed of its weight and density, suspended aloft, as if by magic, 
and the fretted roof, achieved with the wonderful minuteness and airy 
security of a cobweb. — Washington Irving. 

The nave is lined on either side with elegantly carved oak 
stalls, surmounted by the coat of arms and banners of the 
Knights of the Bath, and contains the tombs of Henry VIL 
and his wife, Edward VI., James L, George II. and his wife, 
Queen Caroline. 

In the north aisles are the tombs of Queen Mary and 
Queen Elizabeth ; Charles Montague, the distinguished 
British statesmen and intimate friend of Addison, who has a 
memorial slab in front of his monument; also a small sar- 
cophagus containing the bones of the two murdered sons of 
Edward IV. found in the Tower. 

In the south aisle we find the tombs of Mary Queen of 
Scots, Charles II., William III., his wife, Queen Mary, also 
Queen Anne, and George Monk, the restorer of the Stuart 
dynasty. 

Oliver Cromwell was buried directly under the great 
east window, but his body was removed at the time of the 
Restoration. 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 45 

July 1, 1643, the Westminster Assembly, a convocation of 
clergymen and laymen, met in this chapel, by direction of 
Parliament, to discuss points of dissatisfaction pertaining to 
the government and Liturgy of the English Church, which 
had arisen from the attempts of Charles I. to force this form 
of worship on the Church of Scotland. The assembly met 
in this room until the following October, although it was 
not dissolved until February 22, 1649. 

In 1661 the meetings of the convocation of Canterbury, 
consisting of bishops and inferior clergy, were transferred 
from St. Paul's to Westminster, the former convening in 
Henry VII. 's Chapel, the latter in one of the other chapels. 
In 1689 it was ordained that the bishops should meet in the 
Jerusalem Chamber, and the lower clergy in the Chapel of 
Henry VII., which arrangement was maintained until 1852. 

For years following the Reformation the convocation of 
bishops always took place here, and it is also where the 
Knights of the Bath, a military order in Great Britain, are 
installed. 

The Chapel of Edward the Confessor contains his shrine, 
constructed in 1269, by order of Henry III., also the monu- 
ment of the latter, who was the founder of the present ab- 
bey, the Chantry of Henry V. and his beautiful Queen Kath- 
arine, and the tombs of Richard II., Edward I. and III., 
and their queens. 

In this chapel is kept the coronation chair brought from 
the Cathedral of Scone, near Perth, Scotland, by Edward I. 
in 1297, placed by him in Westminster Abbey, and in which 
all the kings and queens have been crowned since that date. 

The wood-work is oak, the seat the famous " Stone of 
Scone." When used for coronations it is " covered with a 
mantle of gold brocade and placed in front of the altar," on 
the mosaic pavement brought from Rome in 1267. 

Near the entrance to St. Benedict's Chapel is the old 
tomb of King Sebert (who died in 616) and his queen. 



4G FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

The north transept contains many interesting monuments 
of England's great men ; among them Pitt, Cobden, Wilber- 
force, Newton, Herschel, Keble, the Wesleys, George Can- 
ning, Johnstone, Percival, Fox, Montague, and General 
Wade. 

The south transept includes the noted Poets' Corner, con- 
taining monuments and memorials of Chaucer, Shakespeare, 
Milton, Ben Jonson, Spenser, Goldsmith, Addison, Dick- 
ens, Thackeray, our loved Longfellow, and hundreds of 
others who have enriched the world " with whole treasures 
of wisdom, bright gems of thought, and golden veins of 
language." 

The Shakespeare monument is a full-length statue of the 
poet, with one elbow resting on a pile of books, the other 
holding a scroll on which is carved a quotation taken from 
" The Tempest : " 

" The cloud-cappoil towers, the gorgeous palaces, 

The solemn temples, the great globe hself, 

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, 

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, 

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff 

As dreams are made on: and our little life 

Is rounded with a sleep." 

A private passage connects the nave with the Jerusalem 
Chamber, so called because its wood-work of cedar and its 
stained-glass windows were brought from Jerusalem, also 
because it contains tapestries depicting the history of that 
city. On its side walls are frescoes of the coronation of 
Queen Victoria and the death of Henry VI. It might prop- 
erly be named the Court Room of the English Church, for 
here is transacted all business, ecclesiastical and secular, per- 
taining to that august body. 

The first meeting of the bishops in this room was held 
February 22, 1662, when they convened to receive "the 
final alterations made by Parliament in the prayer-book." 

In 1689 a commission, including prelates, deans, and pro- 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 47 

fessors, met here for the purpose of revising the liturgy, 
the last attempt made in this direction. 

The work of the commission appointed for the transla- 
tion of the King James's and Revised Versions of the Bihle 
has all been done in this room. 

Henry IV. died in this chamber March 20, 1413, and the 
event is described by Shakespeare in his " Drama of Henry 
IV.," Part ii, Act iv, Scene iv. 

It was the prison house of Sir Thomas More in 1534, and 
here he wrote his appeal for a general council. 

After the death of Addison and Newton, their bodies lay 
in state in this room, and were borne thence to the abbey 
and buried. 

Hither are brought the crown jewels from the Tower on 
the day preceding the coronations, and on all public oc- 
casions; when the presence of the royal family is required 
they enter the abbey through the private passage leading 
from this chamber. 

Adjoining the south transept is the Chapter House, whose 
history dates back to Edward the Confessor. 

It was used for monastic purposes, also as a place of bur- 
ial. Previous to the Reformation members of the convent 
met here weekly to listen to complaints, hold trials, and ad- 
minister justice. The House of Commons held their ses- 
sions here for two hundred and sixty-five years (1282-1547). 
From 1547 to 1863 it became the repository for public 
records, which included among its treasures the famous 
Domesday JJook, a register of the lands of England, com- 
piled by order of William the Conqueror, commenced in 
1080 and completed in 1086, consisting of two volumes 
called Great Domesday and Little Domesday. 

In 1865 Parliament granted a sum of money to be ex- 
pended in the restoration of this ancient house. 

The cloisters were commenced by Edward the Confessor, 
and completed after the Conquest. 



48 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

Not surely in vain did the architects of successive generations raise this 
consecrated edifice in its vast and delicate proportions, more keenly appre- 
ciated in this our day than in any other since it was first built. Desigued, 
if ever were any forms on earth, to lift the soul heavenward to things un- 
seen. . . . Here, if anywhere, the Christian worship of England may labor 
to meet both the strength and the weakness of succeeding ages, to inspire 
new meaning into ancient forms, and embrace within itself each rising as- 
piration after truth and justice and love. So considered, so used, the Ab- 
bey of Westminster may become more and more a witness to that one 
Sovereign Good, to that one Supreme Truth — a shadow of a great rock in a 
weary land, a haven of rest in this tumultuous world, a break-water for the 
waves upon waves of human hearts and souls which beat unceasingly 
around its island shores. — Bean Stanley. 

The abbey is still to Englishmen all that the temple of Solomon was to 
the Hebrew, and the tomb of the prophet to the Arab, and the shrine of 
Olympia to the Greek, or that of Jupiter on the Capitol to the Roman; 
and not to Englishmen only, but to some sixty millions of English-speaking 
people in so many parts of the planet. To all of them the abbey is grown 
to be a glorified Kaaba, a splendid and poetic fetich in stone, which seems 
to them the emblem of our Euglish spirit and the resting-place of whatever 
England has ever held most venerable. Its very name has passed into our 
own langnage as the synonym for national honor. — Frederic Harrison. 

This marble pile, or at least some portion of it, has, as it were, nursed 
England from its very infancy. Like an aged grandam, who lives to an 
honorable decrepitude, to see standing before her, in stalwart and noble man- 
hood, the boy whom she has loved with tender affection, and over whose oft- 
times erratic and somewhat turbulent course she has watched with solici- 
tous care, whose mother-confessor she has been, the confidante of Ids secrets, 
the sharer of his sorrows, and the shriver of his sins, Westminster Abbey 
of to-day looks on the England of the nineteenth century, which she has 
nursed in the eleventh, and guided and guarded through all the tempestu- 
ous experiences of the turbulent youth-time that intervened before years 
brought experience, and experience discretion and self-control. It has seeu 
England successively Saxon, Norman, and English. It has seen it Roman 
Catholic, Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Protestant again. It lias seen it 
an absolute monarchy, a constitutional monarchy, a republic, and a mon- 
archy again. Within its walls mass has been chanted and the Anglican 
service has been read, and under its roof the Westminster Assembly's Con- 
fession of Faith was organized, and from thence was published. It lived 
through the wars of Normans and Saxons, welcomed William the Con- 
queror, witnessed the alternate despotism and abject submission of John, 



WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 40 

saw the Magna Charta wrested from his unwilling hands, beheld the land 
ravaged with the long war of the rival Roses, barely escaped demolition in 
the hideous but fruitful reign of Henry VIII., was reelothed with honor in 
the more hideous and barren reign of Bloody Mary, rejoiced in the peaceful 
and benignant reign of the unscrupulous but sagacious Queen Bess, wit- 
nessed the conflict between constitutional law and Cassarism, culminating 
in the death of Charles I., but ending only with the accession of William 
and Mary. Born on an island remote from every town, and environed by 
an almost impenetrable wood, it has lived to see London stretching out its 
boundaries till now the once secluded resort of world-wearied monks is in 
the heart of the busiest and most populous commercial center of Christen- 
dom. Born in an age without carriage roads, it has lived to see the island 
of Great Britain intersected by innumerable railways. Born in an age 
when commerce was unknown, when piracy was honorable, when war was 
a trade, and consequently there was little trade but war, when post-offices 
were unknown, because few knew how to write, and books unheard of, be- 
cause the printing-press was as yet unconstructed and few knew how to 
read, it has lived to see the Anglo-Saxon race mistress of the ocean by its 
commerce rather than by its navy, master of the world by its civilization 
rather than by its arms, laying aside the bow for the cannon, and the can- 
non for the printing-press, substituting for the activities of the mere animal 
vigor of its sometime brutal boyhood the more enduring and beneficent ac- 
tivities of refined manhood. — Lyman Abbott. 

The abbey is a vast pile, and its associations are so far-reaching that, 
like London itself, we fail to grasp its dignity as a whole. It is not one 
building, but a great assemblage of buildings, each one of which has a story 
that would put it in the front of the secular monuments of Europe. — 
Frederic Harrison. 

. There are, it may be, some which surpass it in beauty or grandeur; there 
are others, certainly, which surpass it in depth and sublimity of association ; 
but there is none which has been entwined by so many continuous threads 
with the history of the whole nation. — Dean Stanley. 



50 FROM THE THAMES TO THE T ROSACES. 

IV. 

WINDSOR. 



The old historic town of Windsor is about twenty-three 
miles west of London, on the south side of the Thames. 

Its name is a contraction of the words windel shore, mean- 
ing winding shore, and refers to the course of the Thames. 

The population is about 12,000. 

The interest of the town centers in the fact that this is 
a favorite residence of Queen Victoria, who lives in the 
castle, which is the objective point of all tourists. 

The magnificent mausoleum of Albert, Prince Consort of 
England, who died December 14, 1861, is at Frogmore 
Lodge, about two miles south-east of Windsor. 

In the church-yard at Stoke Poges, five miles from Wind- 
sor, the English poet, Thomas Gray, is buried. It was this 
cemetery that gave Gray the name and frame-work of his 
famous Elegy, published in 1751. The park adjoining the 
church-yard contains a monument of the poet. 

The distinguished English statesman and orator, Edmund 
BurKe, and the English poet, Edmund Waller, noted as a 
wit and great favorite in both court and Parliament, are 
buried at BeaconsHeld, a short ride from Stoke Poges, while 
at Ilughenden, eight miles away, the English author and 
statesman, Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, is interred. 

The world-famous astronomer, Sir William Herschel, lived 
at Slough, two miles from Stoke Poges, and here constructed 
and used his celebrated reflecting telescope. 

His son, Sir John, also a noted astronomer, lived with him. 

Runnymede, a narrow strip of meadow land memorable 
in history as the place where was signed the Magna 
Charta, in 1215, is a few miles south-east of the town. 



WINDSOR. 51 



Ascot Heath, a famous race-course, is six miles from Wind- 
sor. The races occur annually in June, and are attended by 
the most fashionable and aristocratic portions of English 
society. Members of the royal family usually attend one day. 

Opposite Windsor, on the left side of the Thames, is one of 
England's most noted institutions of learning, Eton College. 
It was designed by its founder, Henry VI., as a fitting school 
for King's College, Cambridge, which he founded the same 
year, 14-10. The number of boys who board in the college 
buildings, or " on the foundation," as it is called, is seventy. 
They are called " king's boys," are admitted between the 
ages of eight and sixteen, and must be of English birth. 

The other students, numbering between nine and ten 
hundred, are called, as at Westminster, "oppidans." 

The playing fields, where the Eton students indulge in 
the popular English games, particularly cricket and lawn ten- 
nis, are an interesting feature to include in making a tour 
of the college. 

ON A DISTANT PROSPECT OF ETON COLLEGE. 
Ye distant spires, .ye antique towers, 
That crown the water} 7 glade, 
Where grateful Science still adores 
Her Henry's holy shade ; 
And ye that from the stately brow 
Of Windsor's height, the expanse below 
Of grove, of lawn, of mead survey, 
Whose turf, whose shade, whose flowers among 
Wanders the hoarj' Thames along 
Her silver winding way. 
Ah, happy hills! ah, pleasing shade 1 
Ah, fields beloved in vain, 
Where once my careless childhood strayed 
A stranger yet to pain ! 
I feel the gales that from ye blow, 
A momentary bliss bestow, 
As waving fresh their gladsome wing, 
My weary soul they seem to soothe, 
To breathe a second spring. — Gray. 



52 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

Originally the territory now occupied by the town of 
Windsor was an estate held successively by the Saxons and 
Danes. After the restoration of the Saxon line this estate 
came into the possession of Edward the Confessor. The 
strong religious tendency of this king induced him to present 
it to the monks connected with the Abbey of Westminster. 

Two important reasons presented themselves to William 
the Conqueror for obtaining possession of this estate. One 
was the inviting opportunity for building a castle on an iso- 
lated hill within its borders; the other, and probably the 
stronger, the opportunities offered by its extensive forests 
for his favorite sport of hunting. Hence this king procured 
the restoration of this estate to the English crown, and it has 
since that time remained the principal seat of English royalty. 

Windsor Castle was built by the Conqueror, and extended 
by Henry I. and II. 

A new building was erected by Edward III., under the 
supervision of William of Wykeham, an English statesman, 
who, by King Edward, was made Keeper of the Privy Seal, 
Secretary of State, Bishop of Winchester, and Lord High 
Chancellor of England. 

Succeeding monarchs, all of whom resided at the castle, 
added to its dimensions from time to time as their needs 
demanded or tastes suggested. 

In 1824 Georp-e IV., commanding the services of the 
English architect, Sir Jeffrey Wyattville — nephew of James 
Wyatt, for years the unrivaled restorer of ancient English 
architecture — commenced a thorough and complete restora- 
tion of the building. 

The work was not finished until the reign of Victoria, and 
the amount expended was £000,000, or $4,500,000. With 
this expenditure of time and money the castle could be 
naught but what it is — a magnificent, imposing structure. 

There is one town in England which, notwithstanding that the epithet 
" royal " is commonly applied to it, is always attractive to the cultivated 



WINDSOR. 53 



American. The sternest republican of us all cannot restrain a feeling of 
pride and exultation when that magnificent mansion — the finest ever built 
by man for man — called Windsor Castle, first strikes upon his gaze. It has 
a majesty of its own quite independent of kingship, though it has always 
been the habitation of kings. — Harper's Monthly. 

What a little place! It seemed hardly big enough to hold such a man as 
Falstaff. And then it is so small for its age. Think that it should have 
been there these eight hundred years, and yet have grown no larger! More- 
over, there is the surprise of finding in such a very small town such a very 
big castle. Indeed, it is absurd to say that the castle is at Windsor; it is 
Windsor that is at the castle. — Richard Grant White. 

Windsor, pleasantly situated on an acclivity above the Thames river-bank. 
— Imperial Gazetteer. 

Being placed on the summit of a lofty eminence, rising abruptly on the 
south side of the river, the castle commands very extensive views, and is, at 
the same time, a most conspicuous and interesting object from the surround- 
ing country. — McCullocWs Dictionary. 

Windsor Castle, the most magnificent royal residence in the country. — 
Official Tourists' Guide. 

The venerable and huge castle stands, in royal magnificence, overlooking 
the town, the river, and twelve counties of England, surrounding this cen- 
tral point of queenly power. — William A. Drew. 

It is a residence worthy of a king. — Wilbur Fisk, D.D. 

A grand edifice, with charming surroundings. — P. B. Cogsivell. 

The various parts of this regal and splendid building are blended into one 
rich architectural mass rising from the town, which form its base, and dis- 
playing simultaneously its extent and magnificence. — Tombleson. 

A favorite residence with William the Norman. — Taylor. 

The most romantic castle that is in the world. — Pepys's Diary. 

From the rise of ground on which the castle stands, the whole is con- 
spicuous from many points of the railway for miles distant ; and the view 
of the granite-like colored structure — clean, large in extent, very irregular 
in outline of upper part as seen from these points, the whole beautifully 
embosomed in thick foliage of trees — presents a charming effect. — T. W. 
Silloiuay and L. L. Powers. 

The castle, rising up from the village below, with its thick walls, its bas- 
tions, its redoubts, and its numerous towers. — Prof. J. S. Lee. 



54 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

The favorite residence of most of the English monarchs, and the scene 
of many a tournament in the days of chivalry. — J. 0. Choules. 

The finest residence of English royalty, at the present time, is Windsor 
Castle. — Curtis Guild. 

The favorite seat of the sovereigns of Great Britain for the past eight 
centuries. — Harper's Guide-Book. 

Windsor with its famous castle ; . . . and Eton with its famous college. 
— Satchel Guide. 

The venerable and far-famed pile of Windsor. — E. S. Nadal. 

One of the largest and most magnificent royal residences in the world. — 
Ba,edeker's Guide-Book. 

A most regal residence— the nursery, the stronghold, the temple of king- 
liness. — Grace Greenwood. 

Windsor Castle is rich with the accumulated associations of ages. — 
Catherine 31. Sedgwick. 

A more magnificent site for castle or palace can hardly be desired than 
this of Windsor. — Mrs. C. M. Kirkland. 

The castle is, indeed, a royal structure, a fit residence for England's queen. 
— Rapid Transit Abroad. 

The associations with Windsor Castle are of the most interesting kind; 
and nothing can surpass the richness of the prospect. — Prof. Benjamin 
Silliman. 

The imperial citadel of Windsor. — William Winter. 

This is the sovereign's rural court, and is, probably, the best known by 
the world of all the English castles. — Joel Cook. 

An imposing exhibition of strength, crowned with battlements and tow- 
ers. — Zachariah Allen. 

One of the finest buildings in the gothic style, not only in England, but 
in all Europe. — Ida Pfeiffer. 

A grand place to commune with the old feudal past. — D. C. Eddy. 

Windsor Castle, a place full of storied and poetical associations. The 
very external aspect of the proud old pile is enough to inspire high thought. 
It rears its irregular walls and massive towers like a mural crown, round 
the brow of a lofty ridge, waves its royal banner in the clouds, and looks 
down with a lordly air upon the surrounding world. — Irving. 

Among the royal and palatial edifices of Europe, that of Windsor holds 
a very high rank, and is in a manner to England what Versailles is to 
France, and the Escurial to Spain. — John Timbs. 



WINDSOR. 



The vast pile, constituting and called the castle, is the concrete work of 
eight hundred years of British royalty. — Elihu Burritt. 

Its colossal size, its beauty and the variety of it, its position, set on a high 
hill, commanding so rich a panorama of floods and fields and, above all, the 
associations that rush in unbidden upon him who first beholds it, combine to 
produce a sublime impression. . . . From whatever side you approach this 
glorious building it presents a splendid spectacle. . . . The usual way of 
approaching Windsor from London is by the Great Western Railway, from 
which, as it crosses the Thames, you get a view of the castle that is abso- 
lutely incomparable; and it was from this spot that Turner took his famous 
picture of the stalely building. — Harpers Magazine. 

Windsor is not exceeded either in dignity or interest by any residence in 
the world, and it stands in quiet, rich English scenery, which is quite in 
keeping with its now peaceful associations. — Alfred Rimrner. 

Among the royal palaces of Europe Windsor Castle justly lays claim to 
the first place. Some, like the Escurial, may be larger; others, like Heidel- 
berg, may even surpass it in beauty of site; others, again, like the old fort- 
ress of the popes on the rocky bluff by the Rhone, may be more perfect in 
architecture ; but in none are size, beauty, and grandeur so united as in the 
first and oldest of the royal residences. . . . Windsor is a palace, an abbey, 
a college, and a barrack all in one. Further, it is bound up in English his- 
tory more completely than any other castle in the country. Oilier ancient 
palaces are deserted or destroyed. Sheen, Theobalds, Winchester, have 
perished ; the tower of London lias not sheltered one of the ruling princes 
since the reign of Queen Mary. Windsor, on the contrary, has received 
within its walls the members of the royal house since the days when Will- 
iam the Conqueror first laid the foundation of his castle on " the exceeding 
profitable and commodious spot," which he marked rising by the river 
among the trees of the forest. — Picturesque Europe. 

A cathedral has been defined by a great poet as "a petrified religion; " 
and so may this fair dwelling-house, " so royal, rich, and wide," containing 
the habitations of so many degrees of men, and associated with events such 
as every generation of English-speaking races will read of with interest to 
the end of time, be considered " petrified history." — Harper's Magazine. 

If we took Warwick as the representative feudal estate, we took Windsor 
as the representative palace, that which embodies the English idea of roy- 
alt} r . — Mrs. Stoive. 

Windsor Castle is a wonderful, grand junction station of the ages past 
and present ; a castellated palace of the illustrious living and the illustrious 
dead. — Elihu Burritt. 



56 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR0SACI1S. 



The monarchical citadel of England, the core and nucleus of her kingly 
associations, her architectural eikon basilike,VJ"\udsor. — James Morgan Hart. 

An adept in history and architecture, I thought, in looking back upon 
the castle, can read in this pile the traces of each reign. The very names 
of the towers suggest an epoch. . . . The old town of Windsor seems to 
nestle beneath the majestic castle in feudal content. — Henry T. Tucherman. 

Here kings and queens were born, married, and buried. Hence the royal his- 
tories of the British Empire radiate, and hither they converge. — Elihu Bum'tt. 

The standard of England that floats to-day from its highest tower, pro- 
claiming that the queen is now in residence, has floated over scores of 
kings and queens in that same place ; those mighty ramparts used now only 
"for pleasure and for state," were thrown up near a thousand years ago for 
a defense by the first William, who " loved the tall deer as though he was 
their father," and whose favorite hunting-seat was at Windsor, in the center 
of the same fair forest that surrounds it now. — Harper's Monthly. 

Long shalt thou flourish, Windsor! bodying forth 

Chivalric times, and long shall live around 
Thy castle — the old oaks of British birth, 

Whose gnarled roots, tenacious and profound, 
As with a lion's talons grasp the ground. 

But should thy towers in ivied ruin rot, 
There's one, thine inmate once, whose strain renowned 

Would interdict thy name to be forgot ; 
For Chaucer loved thy bowers and trode this very spot. — Campbell 

Then, hand in band, her Thames the Forrest softly brings 

To that supremest place of the great English kings, 

The Garter's Royall seate, from him who did advance 

That princely order first, our first that conquered France; 

The Temple of Saint George, whereas his honored knights, 

Upon his hallowed day, observed their ancient rites; 

Where Eton is at hand to nurse that learned brood, 

To keep the muses still neere to this Princely Flood ; 

That nothing there may want, to beautifie that seate, 

With every pleasure stored ; and here my song complete. — Drayton. 

About, about ! 
Search Windsor Castle, elves, within and out : 
Strew good luck, ouphes, on every sacred room, 
That it may stand until the perpetual doom, 
In state as wholesome, as in state 'tis fit; 
Worthy the owner aud the owner it. 



WINDSOR. 57 

The several chairs of order look you scour 
With juice of balm, and every precious flower: 
Each fair installment, coat and several crest, 
"With loyal blazon, ever more be blest! 
And nightly, meadow-fairies, look you, sing, 
Like to the Garter's compass, in a ring: 
Tli' ex pressure that it bears, green let it be, 
More fenile-fresh than all the field to see; 
And, Hani soit qui mal y pense, write, 
In emerald tufts, flowers purple, blue, and white; 
Like sapphire, pearl and rich embroidery, 
Buckled below fair knighthood's bending knee: 
Fairies, use flowers for their charaetery. 
Away ! disperse ! but, till 'tis one o'clock, 
Our dance of custom, round aoout the oak 
Of Heme the hunter, let us not forget. 

— Sliakvspeare 's Merry Wives of Windsor. 

The buildings included in Windsor Castle cover twelve 
acres, and include the queen's private apartments, the state 
and visitors' apartments, Hound Tower, St. George's and the 
Albert Chapels, houses occupied by canons, deans, and 
knights, and several towers. 

These buildings are surrounded by a stone wall, and on 
the north, east, and south sides by a terrace twenty-five 
hundred feet in extent. The north terrace, on the river side, 
is always open to the public. Adjoining the east terrace are 
the Royal Gardens. The Home Park, in the midst of which 
the castle is built, is about four miles in circumference, sur- 
rounded by the Thames on three sides. 

The public entrance to the castle is through Henry VIII.'s 
Gate-way, near the south-west corner of the wall. In a room 
over this gate-May King Henry signed the death warrant of 
Anne Boleyn. 

Many tourists consider it a pleasant addition to their 
Windsor trip to visit the royal stables, or mews, as they are 
styled in England, where are kept the horses and carriages 
used by the royal family. They are open for a couple of 



58 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR08AC11S. 

hours every afternoon, and are kept and conducted on a scale 
quite in keeping with the general magnificence of the place. 

In the ahsence of the queen from Windsor the state apart- 
ments are open for the inspection and entertainment of visit- 
ors. As would be expected, the rooms are magnificently fur- 
nished. Every-where the eye rests on wonderfully decorated 
ceilings; Avails hung in the most expensive tapestries or 
adorned with portraits and pictures by eminent artists; 
statuary in bronze and marble; interesting historical relics; 
valuable ornaments presented to the queen by different 
crowned heads. 

In the room called St. George's Hall the coot of arms of 
each of the original Knights of the Order of the Garter is em- 
blazoned on the walls. 

This Order, founded by Edward III., about 1347, is the 
highest in Great Britain. Its members include the reigning 
sovereign, other members of the royal family, the principal 
foreign rulers, and English peers. 

The Garter, always worn on the left leg just below the 
knee, is made of dark blue velvet, edged with gold, fastened 
with a buckle, from which is suspended a pendant, both 
made of gold. 

On the velvet is this motto, inscribed in gold letters, 
" Honi soit qui mal y pense" — "Evil to him who evil 
thinks." 

St. George's Chapel, both outside and in, is a magnifioent 
specimen of Gothic architecture. Its vaulted roof and 
stained-glass windows are remarkably beautiful. The 
Knights of the Garter are installed in this chapel, the choir 
of which is adorned with their elaborately carved-oak stalls 
over which their banners are suspended. At the left of the 
east window, built in memory of Prince Albert, is a small, 
bay-winduw-shaped apartment, projecting into the chapel, 
and elevated quite a height from the floor. This is for the 
exclusive use of Queen Victoria. 



WINDSOR. 59 



Among the several monuments of the chapel is one of 
Edward IV., executed by the Flemish artist, Quentin 
Matsys, and another of the Princess Charlotte, the beautiful 
and accomplished daughter of George IV., executed by 
the English sculptor, Richard James Wyatt, a pupil of 
Canova. 

Jlenry VIII., his wife, Jane Seymour, and Charles I. are 
buried beneath the marble pavement of the choir. 
, The Prince of Wales was married in this chapel to the 
Princess Alexandra, of Denmark, March 10, 18G3. A mag- 
nificent painting was made of this ceremony by the English 
artist, William Powell Frith, and was one of the pictures 
sent by England to our Centennial Exhibition. 

East of and very near to St. George's is the Albert 
Chapel, built by Henry VII., and restored by Queen Vic- 
toria to perpetuate the name and memory of her husband, 
Prince Albert. 

The interior beautified with colored marble, mosaics, sculpture, stained 
glass, precious stones, and gilding, in extraordinary profusion and richness, 
must certainly be numbered among the finest works of its kind in the 
world. ... In the center of the nave stands the Cenotaph of the Prince, by 
Triqueti, consisting of a handsome sarcophagus, enriched with reliefs, bear- 
ing the recumbent figure of Prince Albert in white marble. — Baedeker's 
Guide-Book. 

From the battlements of the Round ToAver is obtained the 
magnificent view so highly extolled by all who visit Windsor 
Castle. 

Its beauties were never yet overrated. The English land- 
scape is always beautiful, and here it includes an expanse 
covering twelve counties. 

We were taken to the top of the Round Tower, where we gained a mag- 
nificent view of the park of Windsor, with its regal avenue, miles in length, 
of ancient oaks; its sweeps of greensward ; clumps of trees; its old Heme 
oak, of classic memory; in short, all that constitutes the idea of a perfect 
English landscape. — Mrs. Stowe. 

0-De must lose most of the charm of this spot if he fails to stroll along 
the forest walks, the elm-shaded drives, and the farm lands of the great 



60 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

park, or to enjoy that finest of English views from the noble terrace that 
surrounds the walls, antique towers, and embattlements of the castle. — 
James S. Whitman. 

Twelve counties were within range of vision ; the square turrets of old 
English churches, arched stone bridges, the beautiful park and grounds be- 
neath, . . . the beautiful sheet of water (" Virginia Water "), like a looking- 
glass beneath the sun, and the Thames winding away in the distance like a 
silver ribbon on the green landscape, which was dotted with villages, ele- 
gant country-seats and castle-like dwellings of the aristocracy, formed a 
picture that was a luxury to look upon. — Curtis Guild. 

Only God's hand could spread that matchless view from the terrace, of 
winding Thames, and arching bridge, and sloping bank, and stately grove, 
and gliding boat, and low blue hills bouuding the horizon ! — Henry Morford. 

It is almost hopeless to describe the prospect which greets the eye as 
you step forth upon the tower. Surely the " Earthly Paradise " by the 
rivers of Damascus can scarcely be more fair. Yet one should not com- 
pare it with foreign scenes. . . . The scenery is English, thoroughly En- 
glish, such as, so far as our experience goes, you find nowhere but in our 
southern counties. Description is hopeless; we can see it before our 
eyes, but cannot picture it in words. Beneath our feet the wooded hills 
sink rapidly down to the valley ; through a break in the trees Virginia 
Water is seen calm in the sheltered glade, reflecting, as in a mirror, 
the little "Fishing Temple " on its opposite shore. Behind it a wide ex- 
panse of woodland shelves gently upward. Here the somber foliage of 
Scotch firs seems like a broad shadow on the landscape ; there the larch 
rai«es its lighter spires and brighter tints, and then again the graceful birch 
still more relieves the scene. Line after line the groves recede into the 
distance ; broken now and again by a stretch of sward, now by one gleam- 
ing sheet of distant water, till at last the eye passes over a level belt of 
trees to rest on some distant hills low down in the horizon, part of the 
northern limit of the valley of the Thames. — Picturesque Europe. 

Leading from George IV.'s Gate-way, on the south side of 
the castle, is the Long Walk, an avenue of elm-trees, three 
miles long, leading directly to the great park, covering 
eighteen hundred acres. West of this park lies the 
famous Windsor Forest, fifty-six miles in circumference. 

The grounds of the great park and forest are rich in his- 
toric associations. Here walked in days of j r ore the Saxon 
and the Dane ; its glades have echoed to the hoof and horn 



WINDSOR 61 



of roy.il hunting parties since the days of the Conqueror ; 
hither Shakespeare came and gathered material for his 
Marry Wives; and here Queen Victoria, while living at 
the castle, always takes her morning drive. 

The trees are of magnificent growth and great a^e. Game 
is every- where abundant. 

"Virginia Water" is a pretty artificial lake which the 
tourist finds interesting to visit. It was constructed for 
draining purposes by the Duke of Cumberland, of Culloden 
fame, in 1746. 

Heme's oak, where, according to Shakespeare, the "Merry 
Wives of Windsor" arranged a meeting with Sir John Fal- 
staff, was destroyed in a tempest in 1863, and another oak 
supplies its place. 

Thy forests, Windsor ! and thy green retreat, 
At once the monarch's and the muse's seat. 
Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain, 
Here earth and water seem to meet again. 
Not chaos-like, together crushed and bruised, 
But as the world, harmoniously confused ; 
Where order in variety we see, 
And where, though all things differ, all agree. 
Here waving groves a chequered scene display, 
And part admit, and part exclude the day; 
As some coy nymph her lover's warm address, 
Not quite indulges, nor can quite repress. 
There, interspersed in lawns and open glades, 
There trees arise that shun each other's shades, 
Here in full light the russet plains extend ; 
There wrapped in clouds the bluest hills ascend ; 
E'en the wild heath displays her purple dyes, 
And 'midst the desert fruitful fields arise. — Pope. 



62 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

V. 

OXFORD. 






Oxford, England, is located near the junction of the 
Cherwell and Isis Rivers, about fifty miles north-west of 
London. Population, about 38,000. 

It is the county town of Oxfordshire, one of the inland 
counties of England. 

During the tenth century the name was written Oxena- 
ford, but during the eleventh century we find it changed to 
Oxenford, and it is generally supposed that the word origi- 
nated from a ford for oxen located near Folly Bridge. 

Oxford is a cathedral city, also a municipal and parlia- 
mentary borough. 

The city is built with great irregularity, the streets being 
very crooked, and many of them so narrow that they are en- 
titled to the name of lane, rather than street. The princi- 
pal thoroughfare is High Street, in the south-eastern portion 
of the city. It extends east and west, and is about one mile 
in length. Some of the best shops in Oxford are on this 
street ; also Brasenose, All Soul's, Queen's, and Magdalen 
Colleges. 

Extending from the northern to the southern extremity of 
the city, and dividing it into almost equal parts, is a long, 
narrow, continuous street, having four different names — St. 
Giles, St. Magdalen, Cornmarket, and St. Aldates. 

Nearly all of the colleges are located on the eastern side of 
this street in close proximity to each other, Keble being the 
most northern and Christ Church College the most southern 
of them all. 

The business of the city is almost entirely confined to the 
demands of the University. 







Ml'mii 



!/ll*IL« 



QKiB< M 



OXFORD. 63 

The shops are small, usually ill-lighted, and devoted to the needs and 
tastes of the students. The " haberdashers " are "gentlemen's furnishers," 
the book-sellers' windows full of text-books in all known tongues, interspersed 
by the far-famed Oxford editions of Bibles and prayer-books. — Marion Har- 
land. 

The streets and shops of Oxford indicated the composition of its popula- 
tion. You meet collegians in gowns and trencher caps, snuffy old profess- 
ors, witli their silk gowns flying out behind in the wind, young men in 
couples, young men in stunning outfits, others in natty costumes, others 
artistically got up, tradesmen's boys carrying bundles of merchandise, and 
washer or char-women, in every direction in the vicinity of the colleges. 

Splendid displays are made in the windows of tailors' and furnishing 
goods stores — boating uniforms, different articles of dress worn as badges, 
stunning neckties, splendidly got up dress boots, hats, gloves, museums of 
canes, sporting whips, cricket bats, and thousands of attractive novelties to 
induce students to invest loose cash, or do something more common— run 
up a bill. — Curtis Guild. 

The principal buildings in Oxford are those connected 
with the University. 

There are several pleasant excursions which are very often 
taken by tourists visiting this city. 

Woodstock, one of the oldest towns in England, is eight 
miles north-west of Oxford. This was the home of " Fair 
Rosamond," who died in 1177; Henry II., founder of the 
Plantagenet dynasty, and whose reign is noted for the long 
quarrel between himself and Thomas a Becket, Archbishop 
of Canterbury, resided for a long time at Woodstock ; and 
here Edward, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Edward III., 
and surnamed, from the color of his armor, the Black Prince, 
was born June 15, 1330. 

The village of Cumuor, " pleasantly built on a hill," is 
four miles from Oxford. Here, in the years that have gone, 
stood the old mansion called Cumnor Hall, where Robert, 
Earl of Leicester, one of Queen Elizabeth's favorite courtiers, 
confined, an unwilling prisoner, his beautiful wife, Amy Rob- 
sart. The splendid furnishings and decorations of the apart- 
ments, " which occupied the western side of the old quad- 



64 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR0SACH8. 

rangle at Cnmnor Place," to which the unfortunate countess 
was assigned, are minutely described in the sixth chapter of 
JCenilworth, one of the most famous of Scott's Waverley 
Novels. The closing chapter of this same book gives the 
account of the cruel murder of this woman by Sir Richard 
Varney, a pretended friend of Leicester's, assisted by An- 
thony Foster, the father of the countess's trusty maid, Janet, 
and the owner of Cumnor Place. 

And ore the dawn of day appeared 

In Cumnor Hall, so lone and drear, 
Full many a piercing scream was heard, 

And many a cry of mortal fear. 

The death-bell thrice was heard to ring, 

An aerial voice was heard to call, 
And thrice the raven flapped his wing 

Around the towers of Cumnor Hall. 

The mastiff howled at village door, 

The oaks were shattered on the green. 

Woe was the hour — for never more 
That hapless countess e'er was seen ! 

And in that manor now no more 

Is cheerful feast and sprightly ball : 
For ever since that dreary hour 

Have spirits haunted Cumnor Hall. 

The village maids, with fearful glance, 
Avoid the ancient moss-grown wall ; 

Nor ever lead the merry dance 

Among the groves of Cumnor Hall. 

Full many a traveler oft hath sighed, 
And pensive wept the countess's fall, 

As wandering onward they've espied 
The haunted towers of Cumnor Hall. 

— William Julius Mickle. 

The Countess Amy was buried at St. Mary's Church, Ox- 
ford, September 22, 1560. 

There is nothing remaining on Cumnor Place to-day to 



OXFORD. 65 

remind the tourist of the existence of Cumnor Hall, but the 
ground on which it stood. 

For a long period, says Mr. Adlard, Cumnor was deserted ; the recollec- 
tion of Amy Dudley's melancholy end was revived among the ignorant 
villagers, whose imaginations conjured up forms and horrors before unheard 
of, and hence arose the legendary tales that have descended to the present 
time'. Decay followed fast on desertion, and with the aid of the wanton 
and mischievous, before a century had rolled away, it had become almost a 
ruin. 

A few scattered elms here and there are all that is left to aid in realizing 
the former picturesque appearance of this retreat, where we are privileged 
to sympathize with sufferiug innocent and blighted affection. 

The old church at Cumnor contains the tomb of Anthony 
Forster and his wife. It stands near the high altar, and is 
built of blue marble. 

An old inn, called the " Bear and Ragged Staff," has re- 
placed the one kept by Giles Gosling in the days of " Good 
Queen Bess," referred to by Scott in the opening chapter of 
Kenilworth. 

Since the days of old Harry Baillie, of the Tabard, in Southwark, no one 
has excelled Giles Gosling in the power of pleasing his guests of eveiy de- 
scription ; and so great was his fame that to have been in Cumnor without 
wetting a cup at the bonny Black Bear, would have been to avouch one's self 
utterly indifferent to reputation as a traveler. A country fellow might as 
well return from London without looking in the face of majesty. The men 
of Cumnor were proud of their host, and their host was proud of his house. — 
Scott. 

Blenheim, the splendid estate and residence of the Duke 
of Marlborough, is nine miles from Oxford. This property, 
which includes 2,940 acres, together with £500,000, or 
$2,500,000, was given to the Duke of Marlborough, an emi- 
nent British general, by the English Parliament during the 
reign of Queen Anne, as a compensation for the decided 
victory gained by him at the Battle of Blenheim, a village 
in Bavaria about twenty-three miles north-west of Augs- 
burg. The battle was fought by the united forces of the 
English and Austrians on one side against the French and 



6G FROM THE THAMES TO THE T ROSA CHS. 

Bavarians on the other. The former were commanded by 
the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, and numbered 
fifty-two thousand ; the latter were commanded by Tallard, 
Margin, and the Elector of Bavaria, and numbered tilty-six 
thousand. The engagement occurred August 13, 1704. 

The mansion and grounds of this estate are just as beauti- 
ful as a lavish expenditure of money can make them. 

Just one mile in a straight line from the door of the en- 
trance hall on the main front of the building, in the center 
of a beautiful lawn, stands the Triumphal Pillar, a Corinthian 
column one hundred and thirty feet high, "erected in 
honor of the Great Duke, and on the summit of which 
he stands, in a Roman garb, holding a winged figure of 
victory in his hand," and " on the huge tablets inlaid into 
the pedestal of the column, the entire Act of Parliament, 
bestowing Blenheim on the Duke of Marlborough and his 
posterity, is engraved in deep letters, painted black, on the 
marble ground." 

A part of the trees on this estate were set out according 
to the plan by which the duke arranged his troops at the 
Battle of Blenheim. 

The history of Oxford pertains both to city and Univer- 
sity. 

The city has the prestige of age. A monastery was 
founded here in 727 which, during the reign of Alfred the 
Great, became famous. King Alfred and his three sons lived 
at one time in Oxford. 

The city suffered greatly from the Danish invasions. 

Edmund II., surnamed Ironside, was murdered at Oxford 
in 1016. 

Canute the Great, first Danish King of England, often 
lived at Oxford. 

Harold I., surnamed Harefoot, illegitimate son of Canute, 
was crowned king in Oxford in 1035, and here he died March 
17, 1040. 



OXFORD. G7 

William the Conqueror took possession of Oxford in 1067, 
and built a castle, now included in the county prison. His 
son, Henry I., built and lived in a palace on the west side of 
the town, which he called Beaumont. 

Richard I., Coeur de Lion, was born in this palace Septem- 
ber 13, 1157. 

The English Parliament met at Oxford in 1258, and en- 
acted a law, called the "Provisions of Oxford," by which the 
king's prerogative was curtailed, and the power thrown into 
the hands of twenty-four barons controlled by Simon de 
Montfort, who compelled King Henry III. to sign the law. 

Charles I. made Oxford his head-quarters, during the dis- 
cussion between himself and the English Parliament, until 
his defeat at Naseby, June 14, 1645, by Thomas Fairfax, 
commander-in-chief of the parliamentary forces, to whom 
the town surrendered. 

Surely there never was a place that had such a subtle charm as that old 
city, sitting like some ancient sibyl among her deep, flowery meadows aud 
embowering trees, with such a mystery of learning and wisdom in her 
musing eyes. — Anon. 

No city conveys a more thorough and immediate impression of antique 
splendor. — Alfred Rimmer. 

[t is the finest town I have ever seen — a sort of Gothic Munich, but old, 
very old. — William Black. 

Its college buildings are very beautiful, so beautiful that only to see them 
would be worth a journey from any part of England. — Richard Grant White. 

The approach to Oxford over the Magdalen Bridge, where the view was 
pronounced by Sir Walter Scott to be " one of the most beautiful in the 
world; " the scene in the "High" toward sunset, when the sky is flushed 
with color, and the " stream-like winding of that glorious street " assumes 
its most striking aspect; and the general view of Oxford from the roofs of 
the Radeliffe Library, are the prospects which are, perhaps, most impressive 
to a stranger, since, besides their great general beauty, they present with 
distinctness the features which make Oxford to differ so widely from an 
ordinary English town. — Picturesque Europe. 

A memory of a long ramble among the gray old college buildings of ven- 
erable Oxford is among the pleasantest of my reminiscences of English 
travel. — Notes of a Pedestrian Tour. 



G8 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

Its environs are fine, and the country around fertile. Many of the walks 
are delightful. — Wilbur Fisk, D.D. 

The city of Oxford is the quaintest in England, not even excepting Ches- 
ter. The rage for improvement is already at work, and great changes are 
in progress, Hut even the galleries in the streets of Chester are neither so 
curious nor ancient in appearance as the venerable buildings of Oxford. 
The new part of the city is like any other English city, but the old part, and 
especially the colleges, are mediaeval. — Rev. A. II. Bradford, D.D. 

"Beautiful! beautiful!" exclaimed Wyllys Wynn, as the city of Oxford 
appeared in view. " It looks like a city of churches." "It is indeed a city 
of institutions," said Master Lewis. — Hezekiah BvMerworth. 

I cannot refrain from advising every one who visits England with a desire 
to see its characteristic beauties, to give at least two or three days to 
Oxford. — Richard Grunt White. 

It is said that High .Street has the greatest number of noble buildings of 
any street of its size in Europe. — Hazel Shepard. 

A traveler, or in fact any non-resident, had better come to Oxford in sum- 
mer, or at least under green boughs. With bare branches one misses the 
special pleasure of contrast which results from the presence of a certain 
number of full-grown trees among gray stone buildings. — Maulger Hawke. 

Oxford is one of the most picturesque of England's cathedral cities. — 
William Everett. 

The delightful walks, elegant gardens, invaluable libraries, and public 
display of learning, the beauty of the meadows and river, which constantly 
refreshen the sight, added to the salubrity of the air, conspire to render the 
city one of the ornaments of the kingdom. — Tombleson. 

Oxford's appearance from a distance, with its towers, spires, and stately 
public buildings rising among gardens and waters, is picturesque and im- 
posing. — American Cyclopaedia. 

Oxford occupies an undulating site, is surrounded by rich and wooded 
meadows, and presents to the eye of the approaching visitor a scene of un- 
equaled architectural magnificence. — Chambers's Encyclopaedia. 

The towers and spires, numerous and yet varied in character, the quad- 
rangles old and new with their profusion of carved stone-work, the absence 
of large factories and tall chimneys, the groves and avenues of trees, the 
quiet college gardens, the well-watered valleys and encircling hills, all these 
combine to make Oxford the fairest city in England. — Encyclopedia Bri- 
tannica. 

The number, stateliness, and beauty of the buildings, together with their 
look of antiquity and repose, combine to produce a feeling of admiration, and 



OXFORD. r ,c, 

a certain amount of awe that will not fail to fix the remembrance of Oxford 
in the mind as a thing not to be forgotten. — Official Tourists' 1 Guide. 

A place of great grandeur and beauty. The whole town has an unrivaled 
air of magnificence and dignity. — Prof. Benjamin Silliman. 

A picturesque old place of that meditevo-ecclesiastical architecture, half- 
religious, half-military, which tells so impressively the story of its day ; a 
town of towers and turrets and spires, ... of classic streams and time- 
stained halls consecrated by the tradition of faith and learning, and hallowed 
with the names and memories of the great and good of England. — W. W. 
Nevin. 

Here Latimer and Ridley in the flames bore witness to the truth. — Southey. 

The city of Oxford appears to the stranger to be the metropolis of the 
muses; the greater part of the edifices that meet his eye are designed for 
the immediate purposes of study; for teaching and for learning; the spires, 
towers, and domes of colleges, of schools and libraries, rise above the ven- 
erable trees, amid pleasant meadows and gardens. — Westminster Review. 

Oxford by moonlight! Towers shooting silently up into the blue sky, and 
silvered with the lunar rays, met the eye in every direction, relieving the 
dark, square masses of the colleges, which were half seen in shades below. 
We had never beheld any actual scene which appeared more completely to 
justify those pictures of Grenada, Constantinople, and other romantic cities 
which painters present to us, and the truthfulness of which we always sus- 
pect till we see the actual places. — Edinburgh Journal. 

And now I take leave of Oxford without even an attempt to describe it, 
there being no literary faculty attainable or conceivable by me, which can 
avail to put it adequately or even tolerably upon p;iper. It must remain its 
own sole expression; and those whose sad fortunes it may be never to be- 
hold it have no better resource than to dream about gray, weather-stained, 
ivy-grown edifices, wrought with quaint Gothic ornament, and standing 
around grassy quadrangles where cloistered walks have echoed to the quiet 
footsteps of twenty generations; lawns and gardens of luxurious repose, 
shadowed with canopies of foliage and lit with sunny glimpses, through 
archways of great boughs, spires, towers, and turrets, each with its history 
and legend, dimly magnificent chapels, with painted windows of rare beauty 
and brilliantly diversified hues, creating an atmosphere of richest gloom ; 
vast college halls, high-windowed, oaken-paneled, and hnug around with 
the portraits of the men in every age, whom the University has nurtured to 
be illustrious ; long vistas of alcoved libraries, where the wisdom and learned 
folly of all time is shelved . . . make all these things vivid in your dreams, 
and you will never know nor believe how inadequate is the result to repre- 
sent even the merest outside of Oxford. — Hawthorne. 



70 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACIIS. 

As one wanders down the sinuous wiudings of that glorious city, or 
plunges into the meanest of her suburbs, Oxford fronts the most careless of 
her observers with traces of each age of her history. — J. R. Green. 

And this is not a dead city, nor is it asleep ; the modern work completes 
and increases the ancient work; the contemporaries, as in former times, con- 
tribute their buildings and their gifts. — H. Taine. 

Oxford, the great glory of England, and second only in objects of interest 
to its metropolis. — John Timbs. 

Oxford, ever since the Reformation, has been the consecrated abode of 
Tory politics and High-church divinity. — Fraser's Magazine. 

Oxford, ancient mother! hoary with ancestral honors. — Be Quincey. 

That venerable seat of learning. — Scott. 

Oxford's a place where wit can never starve. — Bryden. 

The palace of the scholar; his paradise of literary rest, his final reward.— 
Professor Hoppin. 

Nothing is wanting at Oxford, neither the beauties of art, nor the fresh- 
ness of nature, nor the great and grandiose impressions of history. — II. 
Taine. 

Here men understand, and are employed in works worthy their noble 
natures. — Tattler. 

A historic religious center of England, and, as the centers of learning 
always are, a most conservative spot. — W. W. Nevin. 
This ancient seat of culture. — Moncure D. Conway. 

No well-read American can visit Oxford without feeling his mind taken 
hold of by the fascination of a peculiar interest. Here lie will see where 
the intellectual life and stature of a mother of nations were cradled. — Elihu 
Barritt. 

Ancient Oxford! noble nurse of skill! 
A citie seated riche in everye thing : 
Girt with wood and water. — Ralph Aggas. 

The life of England for some eight centuries may be traced in the build- 
ings of Oxford. — Andrew Bang. 

Oxford, some one says, is bitterly historical. 

Oxford lends sweetness to labor and dignity to leisure. When I say 
Oxford, I mean Cambridge. — H. James, Jr. 

In Oxford you feel as if yon were under the mystic pressure of accumu- 
lated centuries, whose strange influence of antiquity is all about you. — 
Joseph Hatton. 



OXFORD. 71 

Oxford would seem to be a place in which to forget the present, to lose 
the future, and to walk and muse life away in the dim cloisiers of the past. 
— 'Professor Hopp in . 

The memories that make "Westminster and York and Canterbury what 
they are, that make Oxford, too, what it is, are like the old ivy that grows 
only where age lias given it a foothold and prepared the way.— Anon. 

No institutions have exerted a greater influence on the world than this 
and its companion at Cambridge. — T. W. Sillowuy and L. L. Powers. 

Oxford's historical associations are spread over a long succession of ages. 
— Saturday Review. 

When Oxford was not a seat of learning the chronicles of England do not 
show. — S. I. Prime. 

A city full of the noblest, the most astonishing monuments of an ancient 
period, and every thing modern is but an insigniricent accessory. — F. Von 
Raumer. 

It is only natural that Oxford, abounding as it does in traces of the past, 
should be a favorite field of archaeological observations. — T. E. Holland. 

"Who can visit a place like this, devoted to study and the pursuit of liter- 
ature, without feeling that he has passed into another sphere from that of a 
working world. — James Freeman Clarke. 

Oxford typifies the luxury of knowledge; it is the scholar's paradise. . . . 
The poetry of academic life is here concentrated; study is idealized and 
consecrated, and the scholar's life enshrined. — Henry T. Tuekermqn. 

Oxford is the right lobe of the great heart of educational and ecclesias- 
tical England. — Elihu Burritt. 

The methods of the University and its colleges grew up of old in obedi- 
ence to definite ends, and their development has mainly been along the lines 
of England's highest character, the eternal parallels of conduct and culture. — 
Moncure D. Conway. 

To the barbaric mind ambitious of culture Oxford is the usual happy 
reconciliation between research and acceptance. It typifies to an American 
the union of science and sense ; of aspiration and ease. — H. James, Jr. 

The wisdom and learning of this University, above that of all others, may 
be compared to the sun. — Anthony Wood. 

Conservative as Oxford is, the home of " impossible causes," she has 
always given asylums to new doctrines, to all the thoughts which comfort- 
able people call "dangerous." — Andrew Lang. 

Its name raises a train of memories, reaching back into the legendary age 
of England, which all our romance, reading and castle-building from boyhood 



72 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

have combined to make very attractive to us. There is scarcely a spot in 
the older portions of the city which will not speak to one who has ears to 
hear, of scenes and incidents of history and fiction, which will appeal irre- 
sistibly to the vein of romance in every nature. He must have been dipped, 
not in Stygian, but in Lethean waters, who can live among such associa- 
tions and resist their influence. — Ansley Wilcox. 

How many advantages does the Oxford student enjoy, besides the admira- 
ble opportunities for study and for storing the mind, from the treasure- 
houses that are ready at his hand, with riches that cannot be stolen ; the 
delicious and romantic walks, rural parks, and grounds about here; the op- 
portunities for boating, which may be extended to the river Cherwell, 
where the greater width affords better opportunities for racing — attrition 
with the best mettle of the nation ; instruction from the best scholars ; and 
a dwelling-place, every corner of which is rich in historic memories. — Cur- 
tis Guild. 

Oxford is a center alike for the associations of the past, and the most vital 
interests of the present. In its quiet cloisters and peaceful quadrangles, its 
beautiful cathedrals and spacious libraries, one feels one's self the represent- 
ative and the heir of all the ages that are gone. — Vida D. Scudder. 

About 882 Pope Martin II. refers to Oxford as a seat of 
learning. 

The University originated in a gradual union of the 
schools connected with the monasteries and other religious 
houses. The first known record of the institution as a Uni- 
versity is in a statute enacted in 1201, during the reign of 
King John. His successor, Henry III., granted a charter 
recognizing it as a corporate body and increasing its privi- 
leges. In 1570 Queen Elizabeth continued and confirmed all 
jjrevious charters, of both Oxford and Cambridge, which 
continued to be their principal source of power and privilege 
until 1854. 

James I., in 1603, established the right, still maintained, of 
sending two representatives to Parliament, called burgesses. 

In 1629 Archbishop William Laud, an eminent English 
prelate, prominent in urging the forced establishment of 
episcopacy in Scotland, codified the statutes of the University 
which were adopted by this institution and ratified by King 



OXFORD. 73 



Charles I. (who held Laud as his confidential adviser in all 
ecclesiastical affairs) in 1635. 

Oxford was the birthplace of Wycliffism, in 1381 ; and 
it was here in 1729 that Wesley gathered about him 
the little company of Christians who were nicknamed 
Methodists. 

During the greater part of the seventeenth century Oxford 
was invaded by the spirit of Jacobitism, a party composed 
of the adherents of James II., who during his reign attempted, 
without success, the overthrow of the constitutional system 
of England, and the restoration of the Catholic religion. 

Prof. Goldwin Smith thus writes of Oxford's condition 
during this period : 

In truth the University, in the proper sense of the word, could scarcely 
be said to live in those days. Her corpse was possessed by an alien spirit 
of clerical depravity and political intrigue. Learning slept, education lan- 
guished, university and college examinations became a farce. Life in most 
of the colleges was indolent, sensual, and coarse. 

At the commencement of the eighteenth century learning 
revived, and Oxford became once more an acknowledged 
power in the intellectual world. 

From 1833-44 occurred the Anglo-Catholic or Tractarian- 
ism movement, so called from a series of publications, ninety 
in number, entitled Tracts for the Times, consisting of ex- 
tracts from the writings of the " antenicene fathers," eccle- 
siastical writers of later times, and original works from the 
pens of Drs. Pusey, Keble, Williams, Newman, and other 
eminent divines. The subjects included special doctrinal 
points. The last one, No. 90, published by Dr. New-. 
man, was condemned by the University, and its author, 
together with other prominent members of the English 
Church, united with the Catholics. 

The University includes twenty-one colleges and five halls. 

Each college has its own government, board of instructors, 
and buildings. The government of each college is vested in 



74 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR OS A CHS. 

a body consisting of a Head, or president, and several mem- 
bers called Fellows. 

The Head, with a few exceptions, is chosen by the Fellows, 
and generally for life. The Fellows are usually appointed 
by the Head, after a competitive examination. This position 
is forfeited by marriage. Instruction is given by professors 
and tutors. 

All degrees are conferred by the University. George 
Peabody, Henry W. Longfellow, and James Russell Lowell, 
each received the honorary degree of D.C.L., and Rev. 
Phillips Brooks that of D.D., from this institution. 

University College is the oldest. Alfred the Great has 
been claimed as its founder, but this honor is now granted, 
by common consent, to William de Lanurn, Archbishop of 
Durham. 

Merton College was founded by Walter de Merton, Bishop 
of Rochester, in 1270, for the special purpose of establishing 
a system, hitherto unknown, whereby all scholars should be 
obliged to fill the one vocation of parish priest. 

The chapel is one of the largest in Oxford, and the library 
one of the oldest in the kingdom. 

Balliol College, founded between 1260-69 by John de 
Balliol and his wife, is noted for the intellectual attainments 
of its members. John Wycliffe was once master of the 
college. 

Exeter College was founded in 1314 by Walter de Staple- 
don, Bishop of Exeter, Avhose untimely death prevented the 
completion of the work. In 1565 it was incorporated by a 
charter from Queen Elizabeth, and its extensive buildings 
have all been erected since the fifteenth century. The 
chapel, in imitation of the Sainte Ghapelle, in the south court 
of the Palais de Justice, in Paris, is magnificently decorated 
inside with clustered columns, inlaid screens, mosaics, and 
wood carvings. Outside, its tall slender spire is a conspic- 
uous object of interest. Benjamin Kennicott, an eminent 



OXFORD. 73 

clergyman and Hebrew scholar ; Samuel, the father of the 
Wesleys, and the English historian Froude are among the 
eminent members of Exeter. The library contains a valuable 
collection of mathematical works. 

Oriel College was founded by Edward II. in 1326. 
Among its celebrated members are Sir Walter Raleigh, John 
Keble, Thomas Arnold, and Samuel Wilberforce. 

Queen's College, named for the wife of Edward III., was 
founded by Robert de Eglesfield in 1340. Wycliffe was 
among its earliest members. 

William of Wykeham founded New College, June 30, 
1386. The chapel has a massive detached bell-tower, and 
the gardens are very beautiful, being bounded on one side by 
a perfect remnant of the old city wall. 

The idea of Richard Flemying in establishing Lincoln 
College, in 1427, was to prevent the spread of WyclifHsm ; 
yet the original manuscript of Wycliffe's translation of the 
Bible, completed about 1383, is to-day the most valued treasure 
in the library. John Wesley was tutor at Lincoln from 1729 
to 1735. 

Sir Thomas White, a London merchant, founded St. John's 
College in 1555. Its gardens are considered among the 
most attractive of Oxford. 

All Souls College was founded in 1437 by Henry Chichele, 
afterward Archbishop of Canterbury. The chapel contains 
a wonderful altar-piece ; the library, a valuable collection of 
legal works, and the original plan of St. Paul's Cathedral, in 
London, by Sir Christopher AVren. 

Magdalen College was founded in 1456 by William Patten, 
Bishop of Winchester. The buildings cover over eleven 
acres, and the grounds include lawns, gardens, shady 
walks, and a small deer park of about one hundred acres. 
On the north side of this park is a long, leafy avenue called 
Addison's Walk, because while a student here it was a 
favorite resort of this eminent author. Its magnificent 



76 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

tower is one hundred and fifty feet high, containing a peal 
of" bells. 

Cardinal Wolsey was a member of Magdalen. 

Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester, founded Corpus Christi 
College in 1516, and established, for the first time in the 
history of the University, professorships in Greek and Latin. 

This college has always been famous for its educational 
facilities. Among its famous members is Bishop John 
Jewell, prominently connected with the religious hostilities 
of Elizabeth's reign, and author of the Apologia Ecdcsiaz 
Anr/Ucance, published in 1562. 

The famous English prelate, Cardinal Wolsey founded 
Christ Church College in 1525. After his attainder, in 1529, 
the college, with all its revenues, came under the control of 
Henry VIII. The dining hall has a wonderfully carved oak 
roof. Its walls are adorned with a large and fine collection 
of original portraits of eminent personages, painted by em- 
inent artists, among them that of Henry VIII., by Holbein. 
Surmounting the grand gate-way of the Great Quadrangle 
is a tower containing a bell weighing seventeen thousand 
pounds, called " Great Tom of Oxford." At five minutes 
past nine every night it strikes one hundred and one times, 
after which the college gates are closed. 

Christ Church Meadow is the pride of Oxford and delight 
of all tourists. It includes fifty acres, surrounded by a shady 
walk a mile and a quarter in extent, terminating in an avenue 
of magnificent elms, called the Broad Walks. Christ Church 
has educated many of England's eminent men. John Locke, 
Ben Jonson, Sir Philip Sidney, Isaac Casaubon, Sir Robert 
Peel, William E. Gladstone, and a long, long list of states- 
men, scholars, and poets. 

Keble College, incorporated by royal charter June 6, 1870, 
was built with solicited funds in commemoration of the emi- 
nent English divine, Rev. John Keble, also " for perpetuat- 
ing academical education definitely based upon the princi- 



OXFORD. 



pies of the Church of England." The chapel, the most 
modern and magnificent in Oxford, was built at the expense 
of one man, Mr. W. Gibbs, of Tintesfield, Bristol, and dedi- 
cated, with imposing ceremonies, April 25, 1876. The famous 
picture, "The Light of the World," by the famous artist, 
William Holman Hunt, hangs in the library. 

Between 1445-80, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, founded 
a library at Oxford. During the reign of Edward VI. many 
of the books were scattered and destroyed. In 1587 Sir 
Thomas Bodley conceived and executed the idea of the res- 
toration of this library. It was opened for public use No- 
vember 8, 1602, and bears the name of its second founder. 
The Bodleian Library contains over three hundred thousand 
volumes, representing every department of literature ; a rare 
and extensive collection of old manuscripts and autographs; 
wonderful specimens of illuminated books, hand-work of the 
old monks, between the years 800 and 1000 ; books of 
ancient literature, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Coptic, Chinese, and Per- 
sian, and a large collection of historic relics. It is entitled 
by law to a copy, free of cost, of every book published in the 
United Kingdom, while from the funds left by Sir Thomas 
Bodley, and other donors, its wealth of literature is constant- 
ly being increased, and it is numbered among the noted 
libraries of the world. 

Another interesting building is the University Museum, 
founded and used for the special study of Natural Science. 
Every facility required is extensively supplied, apparatus, 
specimens, lecture rooms, laboratories, and the famous Rat- 
cliffe Library of Natural Science, founded by Dr. Ratcliffe, 
for the special encouragement, of scientific studies. 

Elias Ashmole, the English antiquary, presented to Oxford 
University an enormous collection of ancient coins, antiquities, 
and books, which led to the founding of the Ashmolean 
Museum in 1682. The collection contains many curious relics, 
among them the sword bearing the inscription, " Defender of 



78 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

the Faith," presented by Pope Leo X. to Henry VIII. in 
1514. 

The Sheldonian Theater is used for the annual commemo- 
ration exercises, consisting of Latin orations delivered in 
memory of its founder, Archbishop Sheldon, and the many 
benefactors of the University, and the recitation of prize com- 
positions. All honorary degrees are conferred in this room. 

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin is intimately associated 
with the religious history of Oxford, especially with the 
lives of Wycliffe, the Wesleys, Cranmer, Ridley, and Lati- 
mer. It is the University Church, and the famous Bampton 
Lectures are delivered here. 

A cross in the pavement in front of Balliol College desig- 
nates the spot where the Christian martyrs, Latimer and Rid- 
ley, were burned at the stake, October 16, 1555, and Thomas 
Cranmer, March 21, 1556. In St. Giles Street a fine gothic 
monument, erected in 1841, commemorates the event. It is 
called the "Martyrs' Memorial," and is declared, by Goidwin 
Smith, to be "the architectural manifesto of the Protestant 
party against the Romanizing doctrines of Dr. Newman and 
his disciples." 

Oxford is old, even in England, and conservative. ... Tt is a British 
story, rich with great names, the school of the island, and the link of En- 
gland to the learned of Europe. ... On every side Oxford is redolent of 
age and authority. . . . Oxford is a Greek factory, as Wilton mills weave car- 
pets, and Sheffield grinds steel. They know the use of a tutor, as they know 
the use of a horse ; and they draw the greatest amount of benefit out of 
both. . . . England is a land of mixture and surprise, and when you have 
settled it that the universities are moribund, out comes a poetic influence 
from the heart of Oxford, to mold the opinions of cities, to build their houses 
as simply as birds their nests, to give veracity to art. and charm mankind as 
an appeal to moral order always must." — Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

The name of Oxford calls up at once the image of venerable antiquity em- 
bodied in all the architectural beauty of the past. To the historic eye 
the city is, in fact, the annals of England written in gray stone. And those 
annals are a varied and moving tale. . . . "Those buildings must be ver}' 
old," said an American visitor to his Oxford host, pointing to a very black- 




TIIK MARTYRS' MEMORIAL, OXFORD, 



OXFORD. 79 

looking pile. "No," was the reply, "the color of the stone deceives yon ; 
their age is only two hundred years." Two hundred years, though a great 
antiquity to the inhabitants of a new country, are but as the flight of a 
weaver's shuttle to the age of the pyramids. It is by another measure that 
the age of such cities a,s Oxford must be meted. Between her earliest and 
latest monuments lies the whole intellectual history of Christendom, from 
the very infaucy of mediaeval faith to this skeptical maturity (as it seems to 
us) of modern science, together witli all the political., social, and ecclesiastic- 
al memories which intellectual history brings in Us train. Movenents and 
reactions, the ebb and flow of contending and fluctuating thought, have left 
their traces all around. As you walk those streets, you see, in the spirit of 
history, Duns Scotus, Roger Bacon, Wyelifte, Erasmus, Wolsey, the chiefs and 
martyrs of the Reformation, Hooker, Laud, Butler, Shelley. . . . Nowhere 
do you feel more intensely the power of the past, and the ascendency of the 
dead over the living. . . . Nor is the calmness of the past less felt hi Oxford 
than its power. Thither turn your steps, if you desire to put off for a time 
the excitement of the passing hour. The keep of the Norman castle is that 
from which the Empress Matilda made her escape during the war in the time 
of Stephen. Merlon College is a memorial of the Barons' war in the reign 
of Henry III.; Magdalen, of the War of the Roses. Traces of the political 
and ecclesiastical struggle between Charles I. and the Commons are every- 
where to be seen. Over the gate of the University College stands the statue 
of James II., who, when he sojourned within those walls, was striking the 
last blow struck by a Stuart king for the Stuart cause. Five civil wars — 
wiih their divisions, that seemed eternal — their hatreds that seemed inex- 
tricable — all turned to charitable memories and tranquil dust. — Goldwin 
Smith. 



80 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

VI. 

STRATFORD. 



Stratford-on-Avon is located in Warwickshire, a mid- 
land county of England. The town is about half-way 
between Liverpool and London, on the line of the North- 
western Railway. The name Stratford originated in the 
fact that a ford crossed the river, connecting the main street 
or road leading to London. 

Population, about 8,000. The town is very quiet and 
quaint, yet cozy and home-like. 

The " Red Horse Inn," where Washington Irving was so 
comfortably housed during his visit to Stratford, is still 
open for public patronage. 

To a homeless man who has no spot on this wide world which he can 
truly call his own, there is a momentary feeling of something like inde- 
pendence and territorial consequence, when, after a weary day's travel, he 
kicks off his boot, thrusts his feet into slippers, and stretches himself 
before an inn lire. Let the world without go as it may ; let kingdoms 
rise or fall, so long as he has the wherewithal to pay his bill, he is, for 
the time being, the very monarch of all he surveys. The arm-chair is his 
throne, the poker his scepter, and the little parlor, some twelve feet square, 
his undisputed empire. 

It is a morsel of certainty, snatched from the midst of the uncertainties 
of life ; it is a sunny moment gleaming out kindly on a cloudy day; ;tnd 
he who has advanced some way on a pilgrimage of existence knows the 
importance of husbanding even morsels and moments of enjoyment. "Shall 
I not take mine ease in mine inn ? " thought I, as I gave the fire a stir, 
lolled back in my elbow-chair, and cast a complacent look about the little 
parlor of the Red Horse, at Stratford-on-Avon. 

The words of sweet Shakespeare were just passing through my mind as 
the clock struck midnight from the tower of the church in which he lies 
buried. There was a gentle tap at the door, and a pretty chambermaid, 
putting in her smiling face, inquired, with a hesitating air, whether I had 
rung. I understood it as a modest hint that it was time to retire. My 
dream of absolute dominion was at an end ; so abdicating my throne, like 



STRATFORD. 81 



a prudent potentate, to avoid being deposed, and putting the Stratford 
Guide-Book under my arm, as a pillow companion, I went to bed, and 
dreamt all night of Shakespeare, the jubilee, and David Garrick. — Irving. 

The Avon River, upon which Stratford is located, adds 
much to the beauty of the place. It rises near Naseby, in 
Northamptonshire, runs a south-westerly course across War- 
wickshire, and empties into the Severn River near Tewkes- 
bury. Its length is about one hundred miles, and it is not 
at any point very wide. 

TO THE AVON. 
Flow on, sweet river ! like his verse, 
Who lies beneath this sculptured hearse; 
Nor wait beside the church-yard wall 
For him who cannot hear thy call. 

Thy playmate once; I see him now 
A boy with surtshine on his brow, 
And hear in Stratford's quiet street 
The patter of his little feet. 

I see liim by thy shallow edge 
Wading knee-deep amid the sedge; 
And lost in thought, as if thy stream 
Were the swift river of a dream. 

He wonders whitherward it flows; 
And fain would follow where it goes, 
To the wide world, that shall erelong 
Be filled with his melodious song. 

Flow on, fair stream ! That dream is o'er; 

He stands upon another shore; 

A vaster river near him flows, 

And still he follows where it goes. — Longfellow. 

A placid stream, broadly befringed with sedges, winds in tortuous reaches 
through rich meadows; and now it sparkles in open sunlight, for the trees 
recede; and anon it steals away, scarce seen, amid the gloom of bosky 
thickets. And such is the Avon, Shakespeare's own river. Here must he. 
have wandered in his boyhood, times unnumbered. That stream, with its 
sedges, and its quick glancing fins — those dewy banks, with their cowslips 
and daffodils, trees chance-grouped, exactly such as these, and to which 



82 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

these have succeeded — must all have stamped their deep impress on his 
niiud. . . . Here he must have walked in sober middle life, when fame and 
fortune had both been achieved, happily to feel amid the solitude that there 
is but little solid good in either, and that, even were it otherwise, the stream 
of life glides away to its silent bourn, from their gay light and kindly shel- 
ter, to return no more forever. — Hugh Miller. 

Charlecote is about four miles from Stratford. This place 
is always associated with Shakespeare on account of a 
youthful indiscretion, which, according to good authority, 
he may or may not have committed. The story is this : Sir 
Thomas Lucy, owner of Charlecote, prosecuted Shakespeare 
and some of his companions for deer-stealing in his park. 
Shakespeare thought the punishment greater than the offense 
merited, and as a revenge wrote a spiteful ballad, which he 
placed on the entrance gate at Charlecote. This enraged 
Sir Thomas, who increased the severity of his prosecutions 
to a degree that rendered it necessary for Shakespeare to 
leave Stratford. 

The place is still owned by the Lucy family, and remains 
essentially unchanged since its erection in 1558. 

The old mansion of Charlecote. ... As the house stood but a little more 
than three miles' distance from Stratford, I resolved to pay it a pedestrian 
visit, that I might stroll leisurely through some of those scenes from which 
Shakespeare must have derived his earliest ideas of rural imagery. . . . My 
route for a part of the way lay in sight of the Avon, which made a variety 
of the most fancy doublings and windings through a wide and fertile valley; 
sometimes glittering from among willows, which fringed its borders ; some- 
times disappearing among groves, or beneath green banks; and sometimes 
rambling out into full view, and making an azure sweep round a slope of 
meadow land. This beautiful bosom of country is called The Vale of the 
Red Horse. A distant line of undulating blue hills seems to be its bound- 
ary, while all the soft intervening landscapes lie in a manner enchained in 
the silver links of the Avon. ... I turned off into a foot-path which led 
. . . to a private gate of the park. ... I now found myself among noble 
avenues of oaks and elms whose vast size bespoke the growtli of centuries. 
. . . The eye ranged through a lon^ lessening vista, with nothing to inter- 
rupt the view but a distant statue, and a vagrant deer stalking like a shadow 
across the opening. ... I had now come in sight of the house. It is a 



STRATFORD. 83 



large building of brick, with stone quoins, and is in the Gothic style of 
Queen Elizabeth's day. ... A great gate- way opens from the park into a 
kind of court-yard in front of the house, ornamented with a grass-plot, 
shrubs, and flowerbeds. . . . The front of the house is completely in the 
old style, with stone-shafted casements, a great bow window of heavy stone- 
work, and a portal with armorial bearings over it carved in stone. At each 
corner of the building is an octagon tower, surmounted by a gilt ball and 
weather-cock. — Irving. 

Anne Hathaway's cottage, at Shottery, is less than a mile 
from Stratford. The house is low, long, narrow, and thatch- 
roofed, with an orchard and a garden at the hack and side. 
The cottage is entered by the same pathway and door as in 
Shakespeare's day. The old kitchen contains the same settle 
and fire-place on and before which he sat. A bedstead with 
wonderful carvings and articles of linen marked with the 
Hathaway initials are the principal family mementos shown. 

The cottage of Anne Hathaway. Time, whose hand has not dealt unteu- 
derly with Stratford, has here fallen with its softest touches. The sky still 
canopies the wide green stretches, the pleasant hedges, and the rural path 
that were familiar to the boy Shakespeare hastening to his lover. Nothing 
here can have altered much, for fields and meadows are practical]}' change- 
less, save for the gentle changes of the seasons. On reaching the village 
indeed we step forward a little in modern life only to step back again into 
the past as we pause before Anne Hathaway's cottage and enter its rustic 
door. Here another old woman awaits us. . . . She displays with pride old 
oaken bedsteads that antiquaries would be rejoiced to buy, and bed-linen 
worked and adorned with exceeding care by the fingers of a generation that 
still found time to make common things beautiful. — Justin McCarthy. 

Stratford can justly be called an ancient town, as, previous 
to the year 71 8, it is mentioned in a charter granted to Egwin, 
Bishop of Worcester, the county in which at that time Strat- 
ford was situated. Four years before the Norman conquest 
a monastery was built at Stratford, which became the head- 
quarters of the superior clergy of Worcestershire. 

The municipal government of Stratford was in its earliest 
history organized and controlled by the bishops. They held 
their courts semi-annually. 



84 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

In 1550 this municipal power was transferred from the 
bishops to one of the Earls of Warwick, and finally to the 
English crown. 

In 1553 Edward VI. granted a charter of incorporation 
to the town. 

A perfect model of an English country town — a quiet, sunny place. — 
Official Tourists' Guide. 

"The Home of Shakespeare!" — at once his birthplace and his burial 
place — is Stratford-upon-Avon. — Neil's Guide-Book. 

Attractive as a quiet and pleasant old English town, it is naturally in the 
birthplace and grave of Shakespeare that all interest is here concentrated ; 
an interest which yearly draws hither crowds of travelers from every part 
of the civilized world. — Black's Guide-Book. 

Stratford-upon-Avon is chiefly known and visited by the stranger from 
its being the place 

Where his first infant lays sweet Shakespeare sung, 
"Where his first accents faltered on his tongue. 

— Cooke's Guide-Book. 

The town is neatly built and lias quite a modern look, most of the old 
houses having disappeared. — Library of Universal Knowledge. 

This Stratford is a small town and lias in it a good many quaint old 
houses, and is characterized (so I thought) by an air of respectable, stand- 
still, and meditative repose. — Mrs. Stowe. 

A clean, quiet country town, that would have dwindled into a village long 
ago had not John Shakespeare's son been born on High Street. — Marion 
Harland. 

A sweet English town is this Stratford. — Mrs. Mary Coivden Clark. 

A remarkably bright-looking, cheerful town, and is, of course, more visited 
than any other of its size in England. — Alfred Rimmer. 

The country round about Stratford presents the perfection of quietest En- 
glish scenery; it is remarkable for its wealth of lovely wild-flowers, for its 
deep meadows on each side of the tranquil Avon, and for its rich, sweet 
woodlands. — Edward Dowden, LL.D. 

Three centuries cannot have much changed the face of nature here. The 
flowing river is the same in size and motion; the billowy hills are not high, 
but regular and graceful as the undulations of the sea; the pasture fields, 
the meadows, the shady nooks and corners — these are about the same as 



STRATFORD. 



wijen William Shakespeare was a boy. These are the scenes which inter- 
ested his young soul; and here were penned those mature and majestic 
poems which outrank the classics of Greece and Rome. — Alexander Clark. 

The first locale in all England to our countrymen is Stratford-upon-Avoni 
— Elihu Burr ill. 

Participating in this tendency of mankind, we lately turned our wander- 
ing steps to England's great shrine — going in pious pilgrimage to our own 
Mecca — the birthplace and grave of William Shakespeare. — ./. A. Langford. 

To visit Stratford is to tread with affectionate veneration in the footsteps 
of the poet. To write about Stratford is to write about Shakespeare. — Will- 
iam Winter. 

The whole country about here is poetic ground : every thing is associated 
with the idea of Shakespeare. Every old cottage that I saw, I fancied into 
some resort of his boyhood, where he had acquired his intimate knowledge 
of rustic life and mariners, and heard those legendary tales and wild super- 
stitions which he has woven like witchcraft into his dreams. — Irving. 

Stratford-ou-Avon, perhaps the most interesting town, so far as associa- 
tion with a great name can make a town interesting beneath the canopy of 
heaven, always excepting that one town which stands among the haunted 
hollows of the Syrian hills. — Justin McCartlty. 

A quiet little Pmglish town, but whose inns have yearly visitors from half 
the nations of the civilized world, pilgrims to this shrine of genius, the birth- 
place of him who wrote "not for a day, but all time." — Curtis Guild. 

Stratford will ever remain a beacon to the enthusiast in nature's loveliness, 
as well as to the admirer of intellect and genius in man. — Rev. A. Danker. 

This is "Shakespeare's land." The town lives and moves and has its 
being in his memory and tradition. — W. W. Nevin. 

Stratford, which but for one circumstance in its eventful history, had else 
been unknown and unvisited. 

To that spot genius has imparted an interest that does not attach to any 
other place on the globe. Many a pilgrim has walked the quiet streets of 
that quaint old Warwickshire village and sought out a rude thatched house 
in Henley Street, where, during the month that the trees put forth their 
bud and blossoms, in the seventh year of the reign of "Good Queen Bess," 
in a low-roofed apartment, with huge oak beams and roughly- plastered 
walls, on whose surface myriads of autographs cross each other, so closely 
written and so continuous that it has the appearance of being covered with 
fine spider-web, was born the immortal Shakespeare. There you may still 
see the church in which he was baptized and buried ; the same sweet sil- 



86 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

very Avon where he fished and sniled and swam; the school-house in 
which lie was taught. 

" Small Latine and less Greeke; " the same path-way through woods and 
flowery fields that led the poet to the cottage of his lady love, " sweet 
Anne Hathaway," and the old mansion of the Lucys, intact as in the clays 
of the " myriad minded," to use Coleridge's happy expression, almost the 
only epithet of the many applied to Shakespeare that is to be tolerated. — 
Harper's Monthly. 

It is by Shakespeare that England takes rank in the world of literature; 
for it is by him that we have given to mankind a new type of genius — some- 
thing that cannot be paralleled, something that cannot be replaced, and it is 
by Shakespeare that Stratford has become a center for the curiosity and 
love of all who love bright thoughts nobly expressed, and admire the 
creative might of the imagination. 

Fairer seems the ancient borough, 

And its sunshine seems more fair; 
That he once has trod its pavements, 

That he once has breathed its air. — NeWs Guide -Book. 

Stratford, were it not hallowed by associations, though it might always 
hold a place among the pleasant memories of the traveler, would never have 
become a shrine for the homage of the world. To Shakespeare it owes its 
renown; from Shakespeare it derives the bulk of its prosperity. — William 
Winter. 

It would seem that he who throughout life was the least ambitious, the 
most careless about his fame of all distinguished men, was, by the very echo 
of that fame, after the lapse of centuries, to give the chief impulse to some 
five or six thousand persons, dwelling on the spot where he first drew 
breath. — Mrs. Sigowrney. 

A little old-world town, where the bust of Shakespeare looks down upon 
you from every coigne of vantage. Mysterious being, who sprang from im- 
penetrable obscurity in that quiet village to light the beacon of an immortal 
flame, and sink back into the uncertain shades of his native place until he 
rests definitely in the beautiful parish church, so still among its trees, with 
the Avon laving the wall of the church-yard. — Sarah B. Wiste.r. 

You seldom fail to see, even in that quaint little town, small groups of 
people on whose faces and in whose demeanor you wdl recognize the stran- 
ger stamp. There is something to see in those unfrequented streets, and 
they have come a long way to see it. What wonder? The town is Strat- 
ford-ou-Avon ! It is the birthplace and burial place of William Shakes- 
peare. — Anon. 



STRA TFORD. 87 



In all the world there is no shrine of pilgrimage like this. — English Pict- 
ures. 

The place is hallowed ground to all who lake a special interest in the cir- 
cumstances of the birth and death of our national poet. — John Timbs. 

As you walk through the streets, and in the neighborhood, Shakespeare 
entirely occupies your thoughts. — Anon. 

Stratford appears now to live on the fame of Shakespeare. You sec me- 
mentos of the great native poet wherever you turn. — Hoivitt. 

If the surroundings of a man's life produce any effect on the development 
of his character, we might expect that a thoroughly English poet would be 
born in our midland counties. This expectation is fulfilled in the birth- 
place of Shakespeare. Stratford-on-Avon stands among characteristic mid- 
England scenery. — Picturesque Europe. 

Little did John Shakespeare and the gossips dream, when the baby "Will- 
iam's name was duly inscribed in the register book, with its corners and 
clasps of embossed brass, that he was destined to become England's great- 
est poet. Little did they dream, honest folk, that the old market town and 
the house on Henley Street and the meadows across the river . . . would 
become sacred ground to hundreds of thousands of people from all quarters 
of the globe, who should come, year by year, on reverent pilgrimage to 
Shakespeare's birthplace. — Rose Kingsley. 

I cannot hope to give in their fullness the feelings with which I approached 
this shrine of my highest intellectual worship, to tell how every hill and 
green shadowed vale and old tree and the banks of that almost sacred river 
spoke to my hushed heart of him who once trod that earth and breathed 
that air and watched the silver flowing of that stream; of him whose mind 
was a font of wisdom and thought, at which generation after generation 
has drunk, and yet it fails not. — Grace Greemvood. 

I have been in many famous places and have wandered to many distant 
shrines, but never to any spot which I have left with so warm a sense of 
reverence and affection as the quiet little Warwickshire town which con- 
tains the place of birth, the place of death, and the place of sleep of Shakes- 
peare. — Justin Mc Carihy. 

The memory of Shakespeare covers with its disk the whole life and being 
and history, ancient and modern, of Stratford-upon-Avon. — Elihu Burritt. 

How it would have cheered the spirit of the youthful bard when, wan- 
dering forth in disgrace upon a doubtful world, he cast back a heavy look 
upon his paternal home, could he have foreseen that, before many years, lie 
should return to it covered with renown; that his name should become the 



88 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

boast aud glory of his native place; that his ashes should be religiously 
guarded as its most precious treasure ; and that its lessening spire, on which 
his eyes were fixed in tearful contemplation, should one day become the 
beacon, towering amid the gentle landscape, to guide the literary pilgrim of 
every nation to his totnb! — Washington Irving. 

The magnificent Shakespeare Memorial Theater stands on 
the banks of the Avon, a short distance from New Place. 
The main entrance is a fac-simile of the poet's birthplace. 
The building contains a theater, library, and picture-gallery. 
It was opened for public use April 23, 1879, this being 
the three hundred and fifteenth anniversary of Shakespeare's 
birth. 

The Chapel of the Guild, where Shakespeare often attended 
church, is still standing. Adjoining the chapel is Guildhall, 
where the poet attended school from 1571 to 1578, and where 
he " learned those letters which he was afterward to put to- 
gether to such magic purpose." 

The foundation and grounds of New Place are on the cor- 
ner of Chapel Street and Chapel Lane. Here stood the house 
where Shakespeare spent the last years of his life, and where 
he died April 23, 1616. He purchased this property in 
1597, and after his death it became the inheritance of his 
daughter aud granddaughter. At their decease the property 
was sold to Sir Edward Walker, in 1675. His only daughter 
married a Clopton, and New Place remained in possession of 
this family until 1751. Rev. Edward Gastrell bought it of 
the Clopton estate in 1753. Six years afterward, in a fit of 
anger occasioned by what he considered unjust taxation, he 
leveled it to the ground. Fortunately, his anger was ap- 
peased on reaching the foundation, which still remains. 

Between 1775 and 1829 New Place was owned by four 
different parties, and, during the latter year, was divided and 
sold into six lots. In 1862 a public subscription was raised 
and expended by Mr. J. O. Halliwell in purchasing the en- 
tire property, which was vested in the corporation of Strat- 



STRATFORD. 89 



ford to be preserved by them forever for the cultivation and 
enjoyment of the English people. 

The foundation stones of the house are covered with a 
frame- work of wire netting. 

The grounds are about three hundred feet square, in which 
the lawn is beautifully kept, flowers are profusely cultivated, 
and shade trees are abundant. The whole is inclosed by a 
stone wall and iron fence, the latter having at regular inter- 
vals the monogram W. S., while on the entrance-gate is re- 
corded the name and date of Shakespeare's birth and death. 

It can scarcely be doubted that Shakespeare purchased New Place in 
order to provide a home for his wife and children during his long absence in 
London — a home which he labored hard to sustain — a home to which he al- 
ways retired when the seasons of temporary repose arrived ; when, being 
set free from the mental and physical exertions necessary to carry on the 
business of Blackfriars and the Globe Theater, he would enjoy (as he ever 
loved to do) the sweet associations of that home, and the delights of the 
Garden of England — the luxuriant valley of the Avon. — J. C. M. Bdlew. 

The house where Shakespeare was born is on Henley Street. 
Purchased by his father, John Shakespeare, in 1556, it was 
occupied by him until his death, in 1601. After this event it 
changed owners several times. For several years part of 
the house was used as a butcher-shop, and part as an inn. 

In 1847, owing largely to the zealous efforts of Mr. J. O. 
Halliwell-Phillips, the house was purchased by the govern- 
ment for about £3,000, or |15,000. By them the property 
has since been owned and controlled, the special supervision 
being intrusted to a Board of Trustees. After the purchase, 
the building was carefully restored to its original condition 
by Mr. Edward Gibbs. 

The house is on the north side of Henley Street, built of 
brick, the outside plastered and paneled with wood painted 
black. It has three dormer windows, three doors, and a pro- 
jecting porch on the side toward the street. The interior 
wood-work is oak, and originally the house was considered 
one of the finest structures in the vicinity. 



90 FROM THE THAMES TO THE T ROSA CHS. 

I had come to Stratford on a poetical pilgrimage. My first visit was to 
the house where Shakespeare was born, and where, according to tradition, 
lie was brought up to his father's craft of wool-combing. It is a small, 
mean-looking edifice of wood and plaster, a true nestling-place of genius, 
which seems to delight in hatching its offsprings in by-corners. The walls 
of its squalid chambers are covered with names and inscriptions in every 
language, by pilgrims of all nations, ranks, and conditions, from the prince 
to the peasant; and present a simple but striking instance of the spon- 
taneous and universal homage of mankind to the great poet of nature. — 
Irving. 

The house is recognized the moment it comes in sight. . . . "With a feel- 
ing something like awe, I reach out my hand to the iron bell-pull and al- 
most tremble as 1 hear the hoarse jangling I have made, echoiDg its way 
within the haunted walls. . . . Footsteps approach, the sacred door swings 
back, and a neat, demure old lady appears and invites me to enter. With 
beating heart I obey, and cross the threshold; the door closes behind me; 
I am there at last. I remember how, on my first day at Athens, the compan- 
ion who led me up the Acropolis, turned to me as we touched the steps of the 
Parthenon, and said, " Put off your shoes, for the ground you tread is holy." 
The words came to my mind again and the wish to obey them. . . . Here 
in this low room, with its wooden beams that time has tempered almost to 
the hardness of porphyry, the child of the wool-stapler, whose name makes 
England the rival of Greece and Rome, was born. Let the irreverent 
laugh as they will, there is a sanctity about associations, a holiness or a 
wonder about the places where great men have lived, or fair women loved, . 
plotted, and deceived, which is strong enough to defy the degradation of a 
thousand tourists, and the exorcisms of a wilderness of guides. — Justin 
Mc Carthy. 

There was an interest to every thing about the house, even to the quaint 
iron fastenings about the windows; because those might have arrested that 
child's attention, and been dwelt on in some dreamy hour of infant thought. 
The fires that once burned in those old chimneys, the fleeting sparks, the 
curling smoke, and glowing coals, all may have inspired their fancies. — Mrs. 
Stowe. 

This humblest of dwellings . . . rises in interest over the palaces of 

kings. — Hugh Miller. 

That antique relic of the past, the poet's birthplace, which we at once 
recognize from the numerous pictures we have seen of it, I stood before 
with a feeling akin to that of veneration — something like that which must 
fill the mind of a pilgrim who has traveled a weary journey to visit the 
shrine of some celebrated saint. — Curtis Guild. 



STRATFORD. 01 



If there be one spot in old, in historic, England sanctified by past asso- 
ciations, it is the cottage where the poet of the world passed his youth, 
where he wooed and won, and encountered the struggles of early life — the 
birthplace of William Shakespeare. — J". 0. HalUivell-Phillips. 
Time has gently laid his withering hands 
On one frail house— the House of Shakespeare stands: 
Centuries are gone, fallen are ' the cloud-capt towers,' 
But Shakespeare's home, his boyhood home, is ours. — Anon. 

The porch door opens directly into the old kitchen, con- 
nected by a narrow stair-way with the front room in the up- 
per story where Shakespeare was born, April 23, 1624. 

A low, rude apartment, with huge beams and plastered walls, and those 
walls one mosaic mass of penciled autographs and inscriptions of visitors to 
this shrine of genius. . . . Even the paues of glass in the windows have 
not escaped, but are scratched all over with autographs by the diamond 
rings of visitors; among these signatures I saw that of Sir Walter Scott. 
At the side of the fire-place is the well-known actor's pillar, a jamb of the 
fire-place thickly covered with the autographs of actors who have visited 
here ; among the names I noticed the signatures of Charles Kean, Edmund 
Kean, and G. V. Brooke. — Curtis Guild. 

Back of the birth-room is another similar, and equally 
ancient in general appearance. 

It contains a valuable oil-painting, called the " Stratford 
Portrait," which was presented to the town by one of its old 
residents, Mr. William Hunt. Just below the picture is a 
brass plate with the following inscription: 

This portrait of Shakespeare, after being in the possession of Mr. William 
Oakes Hunt, town-clerk of Stratford, and his family, for upward of a cent- 
ury, was restored to its original condition by Mr. Simon Collins, of London, 
and, being considered a portrait of much interest and value, was given by 
Mr. Hunt to the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, to be preserved in Shakes- 
peare's house, April 23, 1862. 

Part of the building contains a museum, where are ex- 
hibited various articles and documents belonging to, and 
connected with, the life of Shakespeare. 

The most favorite object of curiosity is Shakespeare's chair. . . . Here 
he may many a time have sat, when a boy, watching the slowly revolving 



92 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

spit with all the longing of an urchin; or of an evening listening to the 
cronies atid gossip of Stratford, dealing forth church-yard tales and legend- 
ary anecdotes of the troublesome times of England. — Irving. 

Not the least interesting of these relics was the rude school desk, at 
which Master Will conned his lessons at the grammar school. A sadly 
battered affair it was, with the lid in the middle raised by rude leather 
hinges, and the whole of it hacked and cut in true school-boy style. . . . 
Next we came to the old sign of "The Falcon," which swung over the 
hostelrie of that name at Bedford. . . . Here is Shakespeare's jug, from 
which David Garrick sipped wine at the Shakespeare jubilee, held in 1758; 
. . . Shakespeare's gold signet-ring, with the initials W. S. inclosed in a 
true-lover's knot. Among the interesting documents were a letter from 
Richard Quyney to Shakespeare, asking for a loan of thirty pounds, which 
is said to be the only letter addressed to Shakespeare known to exist. — 
Curtis Guild. 

Adjoining the house is a garden, where are carefully cul- 
tivated the flowers mentioned in Shakespeare's plays. 

The Church of the Holy Trinity, where the poet is bu- 
ried, is of ancient date, although the changes and innova- 
tions of different periods have given its architecture a 
somewhat modern appearance. 

The tower is the oldest portion of the building, and the 
chancel the most beautiful. A garden and cemetery sepa- 
rate it from the street, while the trees shading the chancel 
dip their branches in the Avon. 

The somber effect of its gray, mossy walls is greatly re- 
lieved by the brilliant colored wall-flowers growing here and 
there on its different sides. 

An avenue of lime-trees, trimmed so as to form an arch- 
way, leads from the church-yard gate to the main entrance. 

Shakespeare is buried in the chancel, and his grave is 
designated by a flat stone in the floor bearing the following 
inscription: 

" Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear 
To dig the dust inclosed here. 
Blessed be he that spares these stones, 
And curst be he that moves my bones." 

These lines, it is claimed, were composed by Shakes- 



STRATFORD. 93 



peare, and have proved an effectual safeguard against the 
removal of his remains. 

The chancel also contains the grave of Shakespeare's 
wife, his daughter Susanna, and other relatives. Near the 
altar is the tomb of his intimate friend, John Combe. 

I entered the silent church, and passed along its rooms of old oak pews, 
on to the chancel. The shadows of the trees outside were projected dark 
against the windows, and the numerous marbles of the place glimmered 
cold and sad in the thickened light. The chancel is raised a single step 
over the floor, a step some twelve or fourteen inches in height; and ranged 
on end along its edge, just where the ascending foot would rest, there lie 
three flat tombstones. One of these covers the remains of " William 
Shakespeare, Gentleman ; " the second, the remains of his wife, Anne Hath- 
away; while the third rests over the dust of his favorite daughter, Susanna, 
and her husband, John Hall. — Hugh Miller. 

I could not help noticing, while standing beside the slab that marked the 
poet's grave, how that particular slab had been respected by the thousands 
of feet that had made their pilgrimage to the place; for while the neighbor- 
ing slabs and pavement were worn from the friction of many feet, this was 
comparatively fresh and rough as when first laid down, no one caring to 
trample upon the grave of Shakespeare, especially after having read the 
poet's invocation, " Bleste be ye man yt spares thes stones ; " and so, with 
uncovered head and reverential air, he passes around it, and not over it, al- 
though no rail or guard bars his steps, that one line of magic power a more 
effectual bar than human hand could now place there. — Curtis Guild. 

In the side wall of the chancel is a half-length statue of 
Shakespeare, representing him as engaged in writing, and 
beneath the cushion upon which his hands are resting, are 
the following inscriptions: 

JTDIOIO PYLIVM, GENIO SOCRATEM, ARTE MARONEM, 
TERRA TEGIT, POPVLVS M^RET, OLYMPVS HABET* 

STAY, PASSENGER ; WHY GOEST THOV BY SO FAST ? 
READ, IF THOV CANST, WHOM ENVIOVS DEATH HATH PLAST 
WITHIN THIS MONVMENT: SHAKESPEARE, WITH WHOME 
QVICKE NATVRE DIDE; WHOSE NAME DOTH DECK YS. TOMBE 
FAR MORE THEN COST; SITH ALL YT. HE HATH WRITT 
LEAVES LIVING ART BVT PAGE TO SERVE HIS WITT. 

Obiit. Ano. Doi. 1616. 
iEtatis 53. Die 23. Ap. 



* In judgment a Nestor, in genius a Socrates, in art a Virgil. The earth covers him, the 
people mourn for him, Olympus has him. 



94 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR OS A CHS. 

The book containing the entry of Shakespeare's baptism, 
April 26, 15G4, and the partially destroyed baptismal font, 
are both kept in this church. 

A most charming view of the Holy Trinity, the Avon, 
and the meadow lands is obtained from the old stone bridge. 
This bridge was built in the sixteenth century by Sir Hugh 
Clopton. 

The Stratford church, in which Shakespeare is buried, is a large and ele- 
gant structure, with graceful spire. — Satchel Guide. 

It is delightfully situated on the banks of the Avon. — Harpers Guide- 
Book. 

The church is a fine ecclesiastical structure, adorned with busts and 
stained windows to his memory. — Beck's Guide-Book. 

The old church. . . . standing at the back of its long yard, thick shad- 
owed by great trees, with its wide-flagged walk beneath them, up and 
down which so many generations have passed, wearing the stones into thin, 
smooth hollows. — Mrs. Whitney. 

Even Walter Scott has not a more poetic monument than this church, 
standing as it does amid old, embowering trees on the beautiful banks of the 
Avon. — Mrs. Stowe. 

The appearance of the church is most venerable and beautiful, standing 
amid a great green shadow of lime-trees, above which rises the spire, while 
the Gothic battlements and buttresses and vast arched windows are obscure- 
ly seen through the boughs. — Hawthorne. 

It struck me at little distance, rising among its graceful trees, beside its 
quiet river, as one of the finest old English churches I had ever seen. . . . 
The quiet street gets still quieter as one approaches the church. We see 
on either side a much greater breadth of garden-walls than of houses, — walls 
with the richly fruited branches peeping over; and at the church -yard 
railing, thickly overhung by trees, there is so dense a mass of foliage, that 
of the church, which towers so high in the distance, we can discern do 
part save the door. A covered way of thick overarching limes runs along 
the smooth, flat grave-stones from gate-way to door-way. The sunlight was 
streaming this day in many a fantastic patch on the lettered pavement be- 
low, though the checkering of shade predominated. But at the close of the 
vista the Gothic door opened dark and gloomy, in the midst of broad sun- 
shine. — Hugh Miller. 



STRA TFORD. 95 



The dusky spire of Trinity, keeping its sacred vigil over the dust of 
Shakespeare. Nothing here is changed. The same tranquil beauty, as of 
old, hallows this place; the same sense of awe and mystery broods over its 
silent shrines of everlasting renown. — William Winter. 

The gem of Stratford — the church-yard and church of the parish — which 
would well repay a visit, even if it were not Shakespeare's last resting 
place. A lime-tree avenue leads up to the porch, but we must first turn 
aside for a few moments to the church-yard, and visit a path which he 
doubtless often trod, for no poet could have resisted its charms. It is a 
terrace walk beneath a row of fine old elms. On one side rises the church- 
spire, transepts, chancel, grouping themselves afresh at every step through 
the leafy openings of overarching boughs, the shoots of bright-green folia»e 
contrasting with the gray old stones, worn but not defaced by the storms 
of centuries, like childhood on the lap of age. On the other side the Avon 
slowly glides past the bridges and houses, past the green meadows on its 
opposite brink — giving a gentle kiss to every sedge he overtaketh on his pil- 
grimage — ou through the broadening valleys to the Severn's stream, " till the 
river becomes a sea." — Picturesque Europe. 

Nothing else upon earth — no natural scene, no relic of the past, no pa- 
geantry of the present — can vie with the shrine of Shakespeare, in power 
to impress, to humble, and to exalt the devout spirit that has been nurtured 
at the fountain of his transcendent genius. — L. L. Holden. 

The church that keeps Shakespeare's dust, so consecrated by the rever- 
ence of mankind "that kings for such a tomb would wish to die." — Will- 
iam Winter. 

I paused to contemplate the distant church in which the poet lies buried, 
and could not but exult in the t&alediction which has kept his ashes undis- 
turbed in its quiet and hallowed vaults. What honor could his name have 
derived from being mingled in dusty companionship with the epitaphs and 
escutcheons and venal eulogiums of a titled multitude! "What would a 
crowded corner in Westminster Abbey have been, compared with this re- 
verend pile, which seems to stand in beautiful loneliness as his sole 
mausoleum ! — Irving. 



96 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

VII. 

CHESTER. 



Chester, England, the capital of Cheshire, is seventeen 
miles south of Liverpool, on and. near the mouth of the river 
Dee, which was the deified stream of the ancient Britons. 

The name Chester is derived from the Latin word Cestrke. 

The population is about 37,000. 

Anciently it was an important sea-port; at present its 
maritime interests are confined to coasting trade. 

Its manufactures " include rope and sail-making, paint, shot, 
lead pipe, whips, thread, gloves, and tobacco." 

Chester is an important railroad center. Six hours by rail, 
via the London and North-western, brings the tourist to 
London. Eight hours brings him to Ireland, via the Chester 
and Holyhead Railroad. The latter route skirts the southern 
coa^t of the Irish Sea, passes through the wild scenery of 
northern Wales, crosses the wonderful suspension bridge 
over the Menai Strait, thence across the islands of Anglesea 
and Holyhead to the town of Holyhead, and thence by 
steamer to Dublin. 

The four principal streets in Chester are Eastgate, Water- 
gate, North gate, and Bridge. These streets were laid out by 
the Romans in the form of a cross, each one terminating in 
a stone gate- way in the four sides of the city walls. 

The point where these streets intersect is called the High 
Cross, because for centuries this spot was ornamented with a 
high stone cross erected by the Romans, and by reason of 
its great antiquity highly prized by the people of Chester ; 
but which, alas ! was destroyed by the Puritans in 1646. 

Some of the city streets are several steps below the space 
assigned to pedestrians. 



CHESTER. 97 



On Eastgate, Watergate, Northgate, and Bridge Streets 
we find the Rows for which Chester is peculiarly famous. 

From Catherall's Guide to Chester we clip the following 
description from "the pen of an American: " 

The second story of most of the houses is thrown forward, as you have 
seen it in the old settlers' houses at home. Sometimes it projects several 
feet, and is supported by posts in the sidewalk. Soon this becomes a fre- 
quent and then a continuous arrangement; the posts are generally of stone, 
forming an arcade, and you walk beneath them in the shade. Sometimes, 
instead of posts, a solid wall supports the house above. You observe, as 
would be likely in an old city, that the surface is irregular, that we are as- 
cending a slight elevation. Notwithstanding the old structure overhead, 
and the well-worn flagging under foot, we notice the shop fronts are filled 
with plate glass, and with all the brilliancy of the most modern art and 
taste. Turning, to make the contrast more striking, by looking at the little 
windows and rude carvings of the houses opposite, we see a banister or 
hand-rail separates the sidewalk from the carriage way, and are astonished 
in stepping out to it, to find the street is some ten feet below us. We are 
evidently on the second floor of the houses. Finding steps leading down, 
we descend into the street, and discover another tier of shops, on the roof of 
which we have been walking. 

The passages under the porticoes are found to be rather narrow of a fore- 
noon, when a crowd of women and girls have come out to look at the shops, 
and when the only alternative to waiting one's turn and getting along is to 
descend ignominiously into the thoroughfare below. Now no stranger who 
comes to Chester would think of walking along an ordinary pavement so 
long as he can pace through those quaint old galleries that are built on the 
roofs of the ground-row of shops and cellars. — William Black. 

The most utterly indescribable feature of Chester is the Rows,' which 
eve^ traveler has attempted to describe. At the height of several feet 
above some of the oldest streets, a walk runs through the front of the 
houses, which project over it. Back of the walk there are shops ; on the 
outer side there is a space of two or three yards, where the shopmen place 
their tables aud stands and show-cases ; overhead, just high enough for 
persons to stand erect, a ceiling. At frequent intervals little narrow pas- 
sages go winding in among the houses, which all along are closely conjoined 
and seem to have no access or exit, except through the shops, or into these 
narrow passages, where you can touch each side with your elbows, and the 
top with your hand. . . . These avenues put me in mind of those which 
run through ant-hills, or those which a mole makes uuder-ground. . . . These 



98 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACITS. 

Rows are the favorite places of business in Chester. Indeed, they have 
many advantages, the passengers being sheltered from the rain, and there 
being within the shops that dimmer light by which tradesmen like to ex- 
hibit their wares. — Hawthorne. 

Throughout England at least, Chester is noted for her 
races. These are held annually in May, on the Rood-eye, 
a race-course one mile and fifty yards in circuit, and located 
outside the walls in the southern part of the city. 

The walls surrounding Chester were doubtless built by 
the Romans. During the wars of the Britons, Saxons, and 
Danes, they were almost entirely destroyed. They were re- 
built about the year 907 by Ethelred, Earl of Mercia, and 
his wife, Ethelfleda. 

These walls are built in the form of a parallelogram, and 
are two miles in length. They are kept in repair by the 
Chester corporation, form the promenade of the city, are 
the pride of its inhabitants, and considered by the whole 
English nation as the most perfect remains of ancient for- 
tifications in Great Britain. 

The old walls of Chester are the great attraction of the city ; in fact, 
Chester is the only city in Great Britain that has preserved its old walls 
entire; they inclose the city proper, . . . affording a delightful promenade 
and prospect of the surrounding country. . . . They have looked down 
upon some of the most eventful scenes of history. — Curtis Guild. 

The walls are certainly the most remarkable memorials of old times 
which Chester has to boast of. — George Borrow. 

A walk around the walls of Chester! Now, then, for a choice tete-a-tete 
with the past ! Away with the commonplace nineteenth century ! Away 
with the mammon-loving world of to-day! The path we are now treading, 
high above the busy haunts of men. has a traditionary halo and interest 
peculiarly its own. — CatheraWs Guide-Book. 

The walls of this town 

Are full of renown, 

And strangers delight to walk round 'em ; 

But as for the dwellers, 

Both buyers and sellers, 

For me 3-ou may hang 'em, or drown 'em. 

— Jonathan Swift. 



CHESTER. 99 



At the north-east corner of the wall the tourist ascends a 
flight of steps into Phoenix Tower, commanding a fine out- 
look of the city and its environs. Looking from one of the 
windows of this tower, Charles I. witnessed the defeat of 
his troops at Rowton Moor, and the fact is recorded on a 
tablet placed over the door. 

A pleasant excursion from Chester is to the magnificent 
seat of the Duke of Westminster, Eaton Hall, about three 
and one-half miles south of the city. The estate includes a 
tract of land twelve miles by eight, every inch of which is 
under the most perfect cultivation. The gardens, lawns, 
pasture lands, deer-parks, walks, and driveways, are all 
wondrously beautiful. The conservatories cover acres, and 
are filled with the rarest and most luxuriant plants with the 
most bewildering mass of bloom. The Hall is built of white 
free-stone in Gothic style, and contains the family apart- 
ments, the banqueting and entertainment halls, and the 
chapel, with its chimes playing every fifteen minutes. The 
estate and mansion is considered one of the finest in the 
kingdom. 

All traces of the earlier history of Chester vanished before 
the Roman invasion in 61 A. D., and from this event its 
tangible history dates. The Romans held the town for four 
hundred and fifteen years — 61 to 476. During this period 
its public buildings, dwelling-houses, and streets were all 
constructed according to Roman ideas, and a Avail was built 
around the town, according to Roman customs. Indeed, 
so deeply did Rome leave her impress upon Chester, that 
even at the present day it is no unusual thing for the laboi-er, 
in digging, to discover old Roman crypts and articles used 
in their warfare and daily occupations. 

During the reign of Alfred the Great the Danes captured 
and held the city for a short time ; with this exception, the 
possession of Chester, from 476 until 1066, was divided 
between the Britons and Saxons. 



100 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 



For one hundred and sixty years the town was governed 
by the seven ' 4 Norman Earls of Chester," who held un- 
limited power throughout the county. The tirst one was 
Hugh d'Avranches, sur named Lupus, who received his ap- 
pointment from his uncle, William the Conqueror. 

After the death of the seventh earl, John Scot, in 1237, 
there being no male successor, Henry III. arranged with his 
daughters for an exchange of land and gave this earldom to 
his eldest son Edward, the first Prince of Wales, conferring 
with the gift the title Earl of Chester, a title ever since held 
by the eldest sons of the English kings. 

The Welsh attempted the destruction of Chester in 1255. 

Edward I. visited the town six times, and during his con- 
quest of Wales it was the head-quarters of his army. 

After the declaration of war between Charles I. and Par- 
liament, 1042-45, Chester became an important military post 
of the king's army. Warmly espousing his cause, the citi- 
zens resolved themselves into an army of defense, and set 
vigorously to work building outworks, intrenchments, plant- 
ing batteries, and in every way possible making the town 
impregnable to the expected attacks of the parliamentary 
troops. 

July 19, 1643, and February 13, 1644, the Roundheads, 
commanded by Sir William Brereton, "General of the Par- 
liament forces in Cheshire," were defeated in their attempts 
to obtain possession of the town. 

The following September, troops from Beeston Castle, on 
the Dee, a few miles south from Chester, made the third 
unsuccessful assault. 

Brereton then ordered garrisons to be placed in townships 
contiguous to Chester, and thus he surrounded the town, and 
his troops remained so stationed from February to Septem- 
ber of the year 1645. 

September 27 King Charles entered the city, and, ac- 
cording to arrangement, in the afternoon of the same day, 



CHESTER. 101 



the two armies met at Rowton Moor, about two miles from 
Chester, where a decided victory was gained by the parlia- 
mentary troops. The following day the king made his 
escape from the city to Denbigh Castle, in northern Wales, 
leaving this command with his general : " If you do not 
receive relief in eight days, surrender the garrison." Relief 
never came; but the courageous garrison stoutly refused to 
yield until, after a five months' siege, the horrors of famine 
compelled them so to do, and on February 3, 1646, the par- 
liamentary army entered and took possession of the city. 

Chester has always been the residence of many wealthy families, and has 
at all limes been celebrated for its amusements. — Cyclopaedia of Geography. 

Society in Chester is superior to that in most provincial towns. — Imperial 
Gazetteer. 

The figure and construction of the town attest its Roman origin. — 
McCuliocKs Dictionary. 

Chester stands on a rocky elevation, in a great part inclosed by ancient 
and massive walls. — LippincotVs Gazetteer. 

In the streets are several examples of the old timbered houses of the 
seventeenth century, and some good specimens of modern imitations of 
them, all combining to give a picturesque and foreign character to the town. 
— Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

In addition to many curious wooden dwelling-houses of venerable age, 
Chester contains numerous objects interesting to the antiquary. — American 
Encyclopaedia. 

The " Rows," together with the ancient walls, and the half-timbered con- 
struction of many of the houses, with quaintly carved ornamented gables of 
the sixteenth century, render Chester, perhaps, the most picturesque city in 
England. — Chambers's Encyclopaedia. 

This grand old city. It is essentially a Roman city, the walls gray with 
the memories of two thousand years. — Official Tourists' Guide. 

The great novelty of the town of Chefter is its angular-looking houses, 
with sidewalks for foot-passengers on their roofs. — Harper's Guide-Book. 

One hardly feels that he is in the " Old Country " while he is in Liverpool. 
... If he wants, to feel himself really in a foreign laud, let him go to 
Chester. It is the best possible entrance to the England of his dreams, the 
England that he has so long desired to see, and upon whose threshold he 
stands at last. — Satchel Guide. 



102 FRO M THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

An ancient and very interesting city on the Dee, built in the form of a 
quadrant. — Murray's Guide- Book. 

Chester, an important military post of the Romans. — Loomis's Index Guide. 

The quaint old city of Chester, with its thousand associations of the past, 
is one of the most interesting cities in the kingdom to the visitor and tour- 
ist. — Heywood's Guide-Book. 

The old walls round the city, the picturesque old houses, with their first 
stories overhanging the streets, the fine old cathedral, containing the flag 
borne by the local regiment at Bunker Hill, will well repay the American 
visitor. — Weekly Register. 

The city of Chester stands forth before the world certainly the most 
curious city in the British Isles, second to none of its fellows in martial 
strength or historic importance, and as a faithful and enduring relic of the 
past, " peerless and alone ! " — CatheraWs Guide-Book. 

A delightful city to walk in, a city which it is a pleasure to have any 
business to transact in." — Alfred Rimmer. 

Its position gives it a picturesque appearance. ... It is one of the most 
ancient cities in England. — John Timbs. 

The curious old town, with its many relics of times long distant. — Julia 
Ward Howe. 

Chester, an admirable memorial of the past of more than one age. — E. E. 
Hale. 

Tlus old town, and its quaint-looking houses, with porticoes running along 
the front. — Elizabeth Peake. 

The queer old town of Chester, full of quaint and curious houses of the 
olden time. — Frank R. Stockton. 

Every thing in Chester seems grandly and substantially old. Walking in 
and out among the rectangular streets and narrow ways, one comes upon 
the ancient churches, gray and ivy-grown, and which, even after the 
weather beatings of centuries, look like the everlasting hills, so still and 
quiet and immovable. — Harper's Monthly. 

It is so identified with antiquity, that, while there we can easily imagine 
ourselves contemporary with the Romans, with the Britons, and the Saxons. 
— Prof. Benjamin Silliman. 

The vignette scene of England, and a very charming one. . . . Chester is 
by English law a city, being a cathedral site, and fairly bubbles over with 
tradition, legend, and history. — W. W. Nevin. 

Those who come for the first time from the United States to Europe fre- 
quently hasten to Chester with a feeling of extraordinary interest, partly 



CHESTER. 103 



because it is the nearest cathedral city, partly because it is a walled city. — 
Rev. J. S. Howson, D.D. 

It has been a walled town time out of mind, and has repeated^ endured 
the terrors and horrors of a military siege. — Wilbur Fish, D.D. 

Chester is the seat of rare monuments of the past. — T. W. Silloway and 
L. L. Poivers. 

The oldest and oddest town in England — one immense antiquarian mu- 
seum for the student, never forgotten by those who once set foot within its 
encircling walls. — Henry Mo r ford. 

Chester, one of the quaint old towns which nearly all Americans visit, 
and which every one should. — P. B. Cogswell. 

Not very far from Livorpool, and in the very heart of Cheshire, we come 
to the small and very interesting city of Chester. — Joel Cook. 

Chester — there the traveler finds himself transplanted into the Middle 
Ages, with not a few memorials of an antiquity to which they are modern. 
— Andrew P. Peabody. 

Sunshine and the ordinary avocations of life cannot dispel the antiquated 
charm that, like a subtle atmosphere, pervades Chester; seen in detail, and 
with a broad light playing over its compact dwellings and old churches, the 
venerable still predominates. — Henry T. Tuckerman. 

A strange old place it seemed to be. Narrow streets, like lanes or back 
passages, houses of all forms and sizes, painted grotesquely in squares and 
triangles, witli little gables, apparently pitching headforemost into the street, 
were the first things that met our eyes. — James Freeman Clark. 

Chester, the most curious town in England, with its encompassing wall, 
its ancient rows, and its venerable cathedral. — Hawthorne. 

"When we stop at Chester, we seem to have plunged at once into some 
crypt, so subterranean do its dark streets appear after the riant freshness of 
the country. — Mrs. C. M. Kirliand. 

The railroad in a few short hours brings the traveler from the very heart 
of London and its confusion to the quiet old romantic town of Chester, and 
he suddenly finds himself in another world, in striking contrast to that he 
so lately left behind. He beholds a city of an age gone by. — Louise Stuart 
Costello. 

The shape of a cross in which it is laid out, its walls and towers, its four- 
arched gate-houses with biblical inscriptions, its cathedral . . . present a 
tout ensemble highly romantic in itself, and charming, indeed, to transatlantic 
syes. — Margaret F/Jler Ossoli. 

That oldest of English cities, Chester. — Curtis Guild. 



104 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACIIS. 

Chester at present lias peculiarities of position, as well as of architecture, 
which makes it unique in England and a loadstone to Americans. — Lady 
Blanche Murphy. 

The old city is full of quaint characteristics. — Sarah B. Wister. 
Queer, quaint, old Chester. 

The very streets are galleries, and I trow 

Thy people all were born some hundred years ago. 

— Mrs. Siijourney. 

Every thing in Chester seems grandly and substantially old. — Mrs. E. 0. 
Walton. 

I love to take every opportunity of going to Chester, it being the one 
only place within easy reach of Liverpool which possesses any old English 
interest. — Hawthorne. 

Rare old city of Chester! Even in these days of rocket-like traveling, a 
man might fly all over Great Britain and Ireland, with an extra "day ticket'' 
for Berwick-upon-Tweed, before he saw any thing half so fine as the mold- 
ering old walls and towers of that venerable city, or looked upon any thing 
half so fair as the prospect of vale and mountain, wooded headland, and 
spire-pointed plain that surround it. — Albert Smith. 

Chester, a town where every street and almost every house was interest- 
ing. — Richard Grant White. 

Chester seems to hoard her antiquities with a love which defies the 
modern spirit of destructiveness. — Harper's Magazine. 

Chester Castle occupies the south-western corner of the 
angle formed by Grosvenor and Bridge Streets, and has al- 
ways been identified with the city's history. Its founders 
are iinknown. It formed the "camp and court" of the 
Norman earls. After Chester reverted to the supremacy of 
the English crown, in the reign of Henry III., this castle was 
at different times the prison-home of some of her eminent 
men and women, among them Richard II. At present the 
building is used for military purposes, the assize court, and 
county jail. 

The finest modern building m Chester is the new town 
hall. 

Many of the oldest houses are ornamented with curiously 
carved fronts, which for their age and oddity are worth study- 



CHESTER. 105 



ing. Nearly all the buildings on Watergate Street are gable- 
fronted, and have a decidedly quaint appearance. Near the 
east end is a house with this inscription written on a beam : 
" God's providence is mine inheritance — 1652." It is always 
called " God's Providence House." This title comes from 
the fact that when the Plague was raging in Chester the 
inhabitants of this house were among the very few who 
escaped its ravages. 

Farther down on the south side is the Old Palace, or 
Stanley House, one of the oldest and best preserved houses 
in the city, and owned by the Chester Archaeological Society. 
It is a three-gabled oak building, with an elaborately carved 
front, and was built in 1591. 

The most wonderful specimen of wood-carving found in 
Chester is the front of the " Bishop Lloyd's House," on 
Watergate Row. The idea of the carver seems to have been 
to portray important scriptural scenes, commencing with the 
Garden of Eden and closing with the crucifixion. They are 
all quaintly drawn and arranged in panels. There are, also, 
other panels bearing different designs, and the entire front is 
a mass of profuse ornamentation. 

On the corner of Castle and Bridge Streets, the house where 
Charles I. stayed during the siege of Chester is still standing. 

Trinity Church, on the north side of Watergate Street, 
contains the graves of two eminent men, Matthew Henry, 
the English biblical commentator, and Thomas Parnell, the 
Irish poet. Matthew Henry was ordained at Chester, and 
preached in a chapel on Crook Street, from 1687 to 1712. 
A new chapel now stands on the same site. 

On the south side of the city, just outside the walls, on 
the banks of the Dee, stands St. John's Church, founded in 
689, rebuilt about 1057, and recently restored. Its architect- 
ure is of the early Norman style, consequently specially 
interesting. 

Occupying about the central portion of a tract of land, 
8 



106 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACIIS. 

bounded on the north and east by the city wall, on the south 
and west by Eastgate and Watergate Streets, stands the 
famous Chester Cathedral. 

Tradition gives to the Druids and Romans the honor of 
first erecting temples upon this site. Some historians claim 
that the King of JVIercia, the largest kingdom of the Saxon 
heptarchy of Britain, and Melpherus, his wife, wishing to 
gratify the desires of their daughter, St. Werburgh, for a 
convent life, built an abbey at Chester; that during the 
reign of Ethelred, the fourth Saxon king, his wife, Ethel- 
fleda, rebuilt this abbey, dedicating it to the memory of St. 
Werburgh, and until the Reformation it was called the Church 
of the Abbey of St. Werburgh. Sir Hugh Lupus, Earl of 
Chester, founded a new abbey on a far more extensive scale, 
adding to it a monastery of St. Benedict's order. In 1272, 
the first year of Edward I.'s reign, the reconstruction of the 
abbey was again commenced, and in 1492, the seventh year 
of Henry VII. 's reign, the work was completed, and no 
marked changes have since been made in the building. Dur- 
ing Henry VIII. 's reign the abbey and monastery were abol- 
ished, and it became, what it has ever since remained, the 
Cathedral of the see of Chester. 

The building is 375 feet long and 200 wide. Height of 
tower, 120 feet. It is built of the red sandstone found in 
abundance all through Cheshire. 

The stained-glass window over the west entrance to the 
cathedral is very beautiful. 

The north transept contains several interesting monuments, 
among them that of Bishop John Pearson. 

The choir is 125 feet long, 74 wide, and 78 in height. 

The carving of the oak stalls is wonderful. Hawthorne 
thus writes of it : 

Within the choir there is a profusion of very rich oaken carving, both on 
the screen that separates it from the nave, and on the seats and walls: very 
curious and most elaborate, and lavished (one would say) most wastefully 
where nobody would think of looking for it; where, indeed, amid the dim- 



CHESTER. 107 



ness of the cathedral, the exquisite detail of the elaboration could not pos- 
sibly be seen. Our guide lighted some of the gas-burners, of which there 
. are many hundreds, to help us see them; but it required close scrutiny even 

then There was a row of niches, where the monks used to stand for 

four hours together in the performance of some of their services ; and to 
relieve them a little, they were allowed partially to sit on a projection of the 
seats, which were turned up in the niche for that purpose; but if they grew 
drowsy, so as to fail to balance themselves, the seat was so contrived as to 
slip down, thus bringing the monk to the floor. These projections on the 
seats are each and all of them carved with curious devices. 

The Lady Chapel, adjoining the choir on the east, is the 
oldest part of the cathedral. During Queen Mary's reign, in 
the year 1554, George Marsh, a Protestant minister, was tried 
and condemned for heresy in this chapel. Hugh Lupus, the 
first Norman earl, is buried in the Chapter-house, and here 
the tourist has also the pleasure of seeing battle flags used 
by British regiments at Waterloo and during the Revo- 
lutionary War. 

This cathedral church has had its full share of association with varied 
historical incidents, and with recollections of eminent men. — J. S. Hoioson. 

I never realized the force of the expression "the corroding tooth of time" 
till I saw this magnificent old cathedral. Portions of it which were once 
sharply sculptured in various designs are now worn almost smooth by age, 
the old red sandstone looking as though time had sand-papered it with gritty 
hail and honey-combed its stones with melting rains; but the whole was sur- 
rounded with a mellow, softened beauty of groined arches, beautiful curves, 
dreamy old cloisters, and quaint carving, that invested even the ruined por- 
tion with a hallowed beauty. — Curtis Guild. 

The cathedral befits the city. — Andrew P. Peabody. 

It is one of the least imposing and interesting, yet for an American just 
landed it is a profound revelation. — Sarah B. Wister. 

The most interesting building is the cathedral, a noble Gothic edifice. . . . 
I visited the silent cells, where of old the Eremites were wont to offer up 
their orisons, and trod the cloisters with a step solemn and slow, reflecting 
upon the ancient day and the revolutions made by time. The hoary walls, 
the crumbling fane, and the sacred gloom of the inner court invested the 
venerable pile with a charm irresistible in its influences to lead the mind 
captive to pleasing contemplation and divine melancholy. — Benjamin Moran. 



108 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 



VIII. 

EPWORTH. 

BY REV. ARTHUR COPELAXD, A.M. 



"Epwortii, not Oxford, was the cradle of Methodism." 
These are the words of the greatest of Methodist historians, 
Dr. Abel Stevens. They express a fact growing clearer 
with each year and immensely emphasized, and to be more 
so by the organization of the Epwortii League. If ever 
there is demanded an apology for this name, to the exclusion 
of any other, let Stevens and history be the apologist. 

As an enthusiastic Epwortii Leaguer the writer, before 
leaving America, resolved to make a pilgrimage to this spot. 
The resolution is carried. He is here; and from under the 
walls that now surround the rectory — that rectory the 
home, the nursery, the school and church of the second 
Reformation — he pens these lines to those millions across the 
sea whose sympathies, with his, twine about this hallowed 
home. 

In London it was next to impossible to find where Epwortii 
was, and after finding it none could say how to reach it. 
The first authentic information was gleaned at Lincoln, not 
far from the great minster, and from there by the Great 
Northern Railroad we came to Haxey, one hour's ride, and 
from there for one shilling a cab will take you all the way — 
five miles— to Epworth. 

It is an English country road that winds over a flat plain, 
up a rise or two, past great windmills grinding corn and 
wheat, through huddles of houses, and then all at once sets 
you down in the quiet country town of two thousand souls, 
with onlv one bit of historv in it, but that one how important! 







11$ f§^ : - i 



H * 



EPW011TH. 109 



— the birthplace of John "Wesley, his home till he went 
to the Charter House School at London, and thence to Ox- 
ford, and the place where for several days he held services 
in the church -yard, preaching from his father's tomb. That 
father, Samuel Wesley, was one of the saints and scholars of 
his day, unfortunate, unappreciated, but not unremembered. 
I stood to-day in the church over which he was for thirty-nine 
years the rector. There, in that firm pile of masonry from 
whence this poet, pastor and priest was wont to utter the 
counsels of God, one finds now but a shadowy memorial of 
its chief personage. 

The wife of the sexton opened an old chest, hid as rubbish 
in one corner, which was the chest where were kept the com- 
munion service and the church registers of the Wesley an 
epoch. She brought from it a plain wooden collection-box, 
used also in that day, and broke off a piece of wood from a 
covering within as an unasked memento. The pulpit is gone 
to London, and is in the hands of its true owners, the Wes- 
leyans. Near the door as we entered is the stone baptismal 
font — a most sacred one when we consider that kneeling here 
Susannah "Wesley presented her children for holy baptism at 
the hands of their father and pastor. Just outside is the tomb, 
a slab on a marble block with this inscription: "Here lieth 
all that was mortal of Samuel Wesley, A.M. He was rector 
of Ep worth 39 years, and departed this life the 25th of 
April, 1735, aged 72. As he lived so he died, in the true 
catholic faith of the Holy Trinity in unity, and that Jesus 
Christ is God incarnate, and the only Saviour of Mankind " 
(Acts iv, 12). And then follows the passage from Rev. 
xiv, 13. 

It was from this tombstone that his son, John Wesley, 
years afterward, preached each afternoon during a week to 
such a congregation as Epworth had never seen before. 
And why here ? Because the curate of the church, a drunk- 
ard, as Stevens calls him, refused him the use of his father's 



110 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

pulpit. A few years later he was again at Epworth, received 
communion at the church, and then went to the Cross (so 
called, though only a straight stone and iron pillar sur- 
mounting several conical-shaped stone steps in the center of 
the village), and again preached to a throng that filled the 
square. 

Only last March the Cross was broken down in a storm, 
and one hour ago I stood on the stone steps beneath it, worn 
with age, but a firm memorial of an outdoor campaign for 
souls and for ideas — memorable as that of Wellington's or 
Grant's, and vastly farther reaching. 

The church is at the summit of the town, which straggles 
up toward and around it with its narrow streets and brick roofs 
of red tiles, that contrast strongly with the rich green foliage 
of trees and clambering vines on every side. From this 
church door let us reflect how that Samuel Wesley was not 
only buried, but once arrested for debt, carried to Lincoln, 
and for three months kept in prison in the historic Norman 
castle. And it was then that that devoted wife — reduced 
already to poverty — stripped herself of her few rings, her 
souvenirs of many memories, and sold them to buy food 
and raiment for her persecuted husband. That woman was 
Susannah Wesley. And that name, above Samuel's or John's 
or Charles's, is the one that stands written over Epworth, and 
which no smile at its oft repetition should banish from per- 
petual resurrection and sweet praise. 

Four little boys, as I write these lines, hand in hand are 
running up the road in front of the high brick wall that now 
shuts in the house and grounds of Epworth rectory. There 
was no high wall in her day, and four such little fellows she 
could plainly have seen, and with them many others. They 
bring back a marvelous past. 

In my mind's eye I see those children who once lived here, 
in this very house, and who with their parents constituted 
the most loving and best regulated family in Lincolnshire. 



EPWORTH. Ill 



From those beginnings in that home I see the sources of the 
strength of Methodism. " For who can doubt, " as Stevens 
asks, "that the practical Methodism of the rectory, more than 
any other human cause, founded the ecclesiastical Methodism 
which is to-day spreading the Wesleyan name around the 
world ? " He who doubts it reads history with half-averted eye. 

Epworth is the beginning. I am nearer the source than 
when I was at Wesley's room in Lincoln's College, Oxford; 
nearer than when at his pulpit in City Road Chapel ; nearer 
than when I stood anions the streets now covering the an- 
cient Moorfields in London. I am here with his mother and 
ours. What a sad yet singular fate that her husband lies 
at the church door of Epworth, while she is alone far away 
in Bunhill Fields, in mighty London! But her son, John, 
sleeps across the street, and Charles a few miles away. But 
how scattered ! Do they not confess in death that they were 
strangers and pilgrims on earth ? 

If only she might rest at Epworth ! We would all rest 
better, too. Her home-work, her life-work, was in the hoiHe 
which I visited to-day. It is of brick, two and one half 
stories, and stands close to the street, from which a wall 
shuts it out, and facing the south. Another high wall runs 
from about the middle of the house at the rear, separating 
the grounds of about two aci - es into nearly equal portions. 
In one part of the grounds is a garden of flowers and foliage 
plants, with an arbor and wide lawn, upon which the present 
rector — a rising man in the Establishment, Mr. Overton — 
was playing croquet. The other or back yard (for it has 
no front yard) seems more like a common, with a fine double 
row of elms at the rear. 

The present rector, a man of means, has added some rooms 
toward the flower-garden, and one of his predecessors, who 
was rector here, like Samuel Wesley, for thirty-nine years, 
added what is now known as the servants' quarters; so that 
now the rectory, with its out-buildings, presents a rambling 



11-3 FROM TIIE THAMES TO THE T ROSA CHS. 



appearance, but still stands firm and dignified, though se- 
cluded among its wealth of green trees and flowers, and 
holding up huge tresses of ivy that half hide the very win- 
dows from view. 

Of course the first Epworth rectory was, as we know, de- 
stroyed by fire after a second attempt, set by rowdies who 
disliked the plain preaching of Samuel Wesley. I saw the 
site of the window from whence John, a little lad, was rescued 
that night — a fact so important to him that he had engraved 
on one of his portraits an emblem of a house in flames with 
this motto : " Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire ? " 

But much of the first structure is incorporated in the second 
rectory, and we know that the whole of the upright of the pres- 
ent is the very house to which Samuel Wesley was sent on the 
strength of the dedication of one of his poems to Queen Mary, 
to which he brought as a wife and mother the beautiful and 
accomplished daughter of Dr. Annesley, and the home 
where that father and mother on one thousand dollars a year 
sustained and educated a family of nineteen children. It is 
the same house, too, where Susannah Wesley read sermons 
to the people, gathered to the number of two hundred at a 
time, in the absence of her husband — the beginning but not 
the end of woman's sphere of labor in that department in the 
church. It is the same, too, from whence she kept up that 
remarkable correspondence with her sons at Oxford, correct- 
ing their theology and stimulating their zeal. It is the same 
house whence were buried several of the children, though one 
looks in vain for any grave or memento of them in the 
church-yard; and, sad to say, the house, too, from which her 
husband — because she refused to say "Amen" at evening 
prayer for the king, the Prince of Orange, on the ground 
that she did not believe his title good— left her for a whole 
year from that very evening — a strange picture of inflexible 
will, of sturdy but cruel devotion to opinion. But it is a 
significant fact that when, after the king died and Anne 



EP WORTH. 113 



came to the throne, and Samuel returned and conjugal har- 
mony prevailed, John Wesley himself was the first child horn 
after their reconciliation. 

And then, too, it is this same Epworth home to which 
John Wesley refused to return, on the earnest plea of his 
father, verging toward death and bankruptcy, asserting that 
it was his duty as a son to be his successor at Epworth 
church and rectory for his mother's sake, and to keep to- 
gether the home and children. That plea was made doubly 
strong by a father's death. 

But there was a call from another direction. It was the 
voice that Paul heard; it was the call to accompany his 
brother Charles as a missionary to the Indians of Georgia. 
Which will lie heed ? He writes to the Epworth rectory, to 
that widowed mother, for a reply; and this was the answer 
that went up from the hallowed walls upon which as I write 
the sun is setting through cloud and rising dusk: "If I had 
twenty sons I should rejoice that they were all employed as 
missionaries, though I should never see them again." 

In view of what Susannah foresaw, and of which Samuel 
Wesley was the prophet, no more heroic utterance ever was 
penned. John Wesley went forth, but the Epworth home 
went down. Poverty and necessity entered as a terrible 
wedge into this center of piety and learning and this nursery 
of great ideas. From that hour the family could no longer 
be held together; the farewells to the haunts of nearly forty 
years had to be spoken, and the great shadow of separation 
and strangerhood settled thick upon Epworth rectory. Will 
American Methodism forget the reason ? Wdl any one in 
her home so beautiful, so comfortable, ask why there should 
be an Epworth League — a perpetual remembrancer of the 
place, the personages, the pains of Epworth of 1735? The 
answer is full enough for those who read Methodist history. 
It comes back in tears; but it is perpetual and sufficient. 

Epworth, England, June, 1S90, 



114 FROM THE THAMES TO THE T ROSA CHS. 



Bishop Gilbert Haven visited Epworth more than thirty 
years ago, and made this record of his visit in his PilgrinCs 
Wallet : 

The flat country on which we had walked all the previous evening began 
to rise slightly. The gray tower of the church appeared on one of the most 
considerable of the knolls, with trees scantily covering its northern and 
eastern sides, but thickly shading its southern front. At its foot were the 
crowded streets of an English town, with their red-tiled roofs blazing in 
the sun. This was Epworth church and village, the birthplace and youth- 
place of John "Wesley. It is a small place of half a dozen streets, compact 
together and void of beauty. . . . 

The church stands outside of it on its north-eastern limit. Its entrance 
is through a row of" lofty sycamores and elms. The chimes cease their 
cheerful rattling and the few homespun villagers enter the antique porch. 
It is a very old edifice, with but little architectural comeliness. Its bare 
walls and rafters look as though they had been untouched long before the 
days when the bright Johnny and Charlie, with the other children of the 
rector's family, used to be led hither by their pious and lovely mother. 

Leaving the church by its chancel porch, and stepping a few feet to your 
left, you stand beside Samuel Wesley's tomb. It is a plain slab, on a brick 
base, with a too-long inscription, under an old, fine-spreading tree, close to 
a door of the vestry. The story goes that that was the door out of which 
John Wesley was put by the authorities of the church, and that he instantly 
mounted the low slab beside it and proclaimed the word from that far more 
sacred pulpit. Some dents in the stone, caused by the presence of iron ore 
in it, are said by the villagers to be the print of Wesley's feet. Very ear- 
nestly and honestly did a lad make me this declaration. It shows how easily 
legends could become subjects of faith in a more credulous age. . . . 

In the heart of the village are the pleasant grounds of the rectory. Like 
all such gardens of delieht in England, they are shut from all eyes by very 
high, blank walls. I wished to look on the spot where "Wesley was born, 
and the house where he spent his early years, so I lifted the latch of the 
gate and entered uninvited and unwelcomed. The house is a plain brick 
edifice, standing a few rods from the street. Before it spreads a level lawn 
more than a hundred feet square, with a walk around it shaded with ven- 
erable trees and lined with shrubbrry and flowers. A vegetable garden on 
the north and pastures on the east complete the rural picture. The house 
was the same that Samuel Wesley built after the one was destroyed by fire 
from which John was saved. It is not stately nor spacious, though suffi- 
ciently ample and convenient. A single parlor, with an entry by the side of 
it, a like room behind it, wings in the rear, all of fair width and height — 



EPWORTH. 115 



such is the house where John Wesley reeeived his first and chief education. 
There the child gamboled, the boy studied, the youth meditated, the man 
struggled and triumphed and went forth, a chosen vessel, to bear truth and 
grace to unnumbered myriads and generations. 

Epworth — a rural community of Lincolnshire, with a population, at the 
time, of about two thousand souls, occupied in the cultivation and manufact- 
ure of hemp and flax. In the household of the Epworth rectory can be 
traced the origin of Methodism amid one of those pictures of English rural 
life which have so often given a charm to our literature. An "elect lady" 
there trained the founder and legislator of Methodism by impressing on him 
the traits of her own extraordinary character; and under the same nurture 
grew up by his side its psalmist. — Abel Stevens. 

John, in the beginning of his regular itinerancy, came to Epworth. 
Many years had elapsed since he had been in his native place, and not 
knowing whether there were any persons left in it who would not be 
ashamed of his acquaintance, he went to an inn. The next day, being Sun- 
day, he called upon the curate, Mr. Romley, and offered to assist him, either 
by preaching or reading prayers, but his assistance was refused and the 
use of the pulpit was denied him. A rumor, however, prevailed that he 
was to preach in the afternoon. The church was filled in consequence, and 
a sermon was delivered upon the evils of enthusiasm, to which Wesley lis- 
tened with his characteristic composure. But when the sermon was over 
his companion gave notice, as the people were coming out, that Mr. Wesley, 
not being permitted to preach in the church, would preach in the church- 
yard at six o'clock. "Accordingly," says he, "at six I came and found such 
a congregation as I believe Epworth never saw before. I stood near the 
east end of the church, upon my father's tombstone, and cried, 'The king- 
dom of heaven is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy 
in the Holy Ghost.' " 

Seven successive evenings he preached upon that tombstone, and in no 
place did he ever preach with greater effect. — Hubert Southey. 



116 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACIIS. 



IX. 

YORK. 

York, the capital and chief city of Yorkshire, the largest 
county in England, is charmingly located on both sides of 
the river Ouse. Population, 54,000. 

York is one of the oldest and most historical cities in 
England. 

The title Duke of York was formerly borne by the younger 
sons of English kings. The first who received this title was 
Edmund Plantagenet, fifth son of Edward III., in 1385 ; the 
last, Frederick, second son of George III., in 1784. 

The founding of York is generally ascribed to the Roman 
general, Cneius Julius Agricola, who was made Governor of 
Britain by Vespasian, and who succeeded in subjugating the 
whole country. 

The Romans called York Eboracum, and during their oc- 
cupancy of Britain it was one of their most important towns 
and military posts. 

In 120 A. D. the Roman Emperor Hadrian made a tour of 
Britain, for the purpose of inspecting the different garrisons. 
He was accompanied by the Sixth Roman Legion. His head- 
quarters were fixed at York, and here he built a magnificent 
imperial palace. 

From 208 to 211 this palace was occupied by the Roman 
Emperor Severus and his court. 

Severus died at York in 211, and after his death his son, 
Caracalla, murdered his brother, Geta, and then returned to 
Rome. 

Constantius, father of Constantine the Great, received 
charge of the government of Britain in 272, and he died at 
York in 306. 



YORK. 117 

After the Romans withdrew from Britain, in 430, the Scots 
and Picts gained possession of the town, which they held fur 
years. 

In 449 three hundred Saxons, commanded by two brothers, 
Hengist and Horsa, landed in England. Their aid was so- 
licited and obtained by the Britons, and with their united 
forces they succeeded in wresting York from the power of 
the Scots. 

The Saxons were pleased with the country and determined 
to possess it. With this end in view they sent to Germany 
for more of their countrymen, and by degrees succeeded in 
obtaining possession of the whole territory south of the wall 
built by Hadrian, which extended across the island from 
Carlisle to Newcastle. This tract in course of time became 
divided into seven kingdoms, known as the Saxon Heptarchy. 

In this division York was made the capital of Deira, which 
included the country reaching from the southern limits of 
Yorkshire and Lancashire to the border of Scotland. 

Just at this point in the history of York there comes a 
dash of the legendary, or semi-mythical, which always adds 
new charms to any place. The claim is made that the first 
Christmas celebrated in England was observed at York, 
some time during the sixth century, by King Arthur and his 
knights. 

By earlier writers this king is declared a real, by later, a 
mythical, monarch, who inherited from his wife Guinevere 
the famous Round Table, which has formed such a fruitful 
theme of poetry and romance. Tennyson's Idyls of the 
King contain charming descriptions of the experiences and 
exploits of this famous king and his equally famous knights. 

In 617 Edwin, son of iElla, became King of Deira. The 
chief event of his reign was the introduction of Christianity 
into his kingdom. 

Edwin, his two sons, and a number of his subjects were 
baptized at York on Easter Sunday, April 12, 627. 



118 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR0SAC1IS. 

In the reign of Edward the Confessor the town was made 
the capital of Yorkshire. 

Hardrada, the Norwegian king, invaded England in 10GG, 
and took possession of York. 

Harold, son-indaw and successor of Edward I., defeated 
Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, a few miles 
from the city, September 23, 1066, and entered York in 
triumph. 

Shortly after this, Harold received news that William, 
Duke of Normandy, who claimed the throne of England 
through a relationship to the mother of the Confessor, had 
landed in England with an army of 60,000 men, and, speed- 
ily concentrating his forces, Harold marched to meet the 
invader, by whom he was defeated at the Battle of Hastings, 
October 14, 1066. 

This battle gave William control of York. Here he built 
two Norman castles, the first erected in England, and gar- 
risoned them with Norman soldiers. 

The people rebelled, massacred the garrison, and held the 
city until famine compelled them to capitulate to William, 
who had laid siege to it, and who, after its surrender, re- 
duced it to ashes. 

During the tumultuous and miserable reign of King 
Stephen, the last of the Anglo-Norman line, the war with 
Scotland was renewed, and David I., king of that country, 
made a raid into England in 1138, and besieged York. 

He was defeated by the combined forces of the barons 
residing in the adjacent counties, August 22, in a conflict 
called the Battle of the Standard. 

The English Parliament met in York in 1160, 1298-99, 
and 1322. 

The few members of Parliament who remained loyal to 
Charles I., after his final rupture with the main body in 
1643, made this city their head -quarters. 

In Ivanhoe we read of the Jew, Isaac of York, and the 



YORK. 119 

feeling of hatred which swept through many of the English 
towns in 1190. In March of that year two thousand Jews 
were massacred at York. 

The marriage of Alexander III., of Scotland, to Margaret, 
daughter of Henry III., was solemnized at York in 1254. 

In 1327 the Scots, commanded by Robert Bruce, invaded 
England, and Edward III. made this city the head-quarters 
of the army which he raised to meet this invasion. 

The following year King Edwai-d was married in the 
cathedral to Philip] >a, daughter of Earl Ilainault, a woman 
of irreproachable character, rare ability and courage, of 
whom it was said " she was related to no less than thirty 
crowned heads, and she became the mother of fourteen 
children." 

From the commencement of the " Wars of the Roses," in 
1455, to their (dose at the Battle of Bosworth Field, August 
23, 1485, York held a prominent position, and, together with 
the adjacent country, was the scene of some of its most san- 
guinary battles. 

Henry VIII. ordered a house to be built at York which he 
called the King's Manor, and here he stayed for a few days 
in 1541. 

In 1603 James I. lived for a time with his queen, Anne 
of Denmark, in the King's Manor, which he transformed into 
a regal palace. 

Over the entrance of the inner court his coat of arms is 
still to be seen. 

After Scotland had risen in rebellion against the kind's 
attempt to force Episcopacy upon her, Charles I., in 1640, 
called the Great Council of Peers to meet at York, which 
they did, and immediately demanded that he re-assemble 
the Parliament he had recently dissolved, and negotiate with 
the Scottish rebels. 

Charles I. was crowned by the Cavaliers at York in 
1643. 



120 FROM THE THAMES TO THE T ROSACES. 

At the Battle of Marston Moor, a plain eight miles north- 
west of York, July 2, 1644, the army of Charles I. was de- 
feated by the parliamentary forces commanded by Lord 
Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, and a few days after, York 
surrendered, and the two generals held a thanksgiving 
service in the cathedral for this victory which permanently 
established the parliamentary power in northern England. 

In 1688 York was deprived of its charter by James II., 
because they refused to submit to the arbitrary measures of 
the crown. 

York is the seat of an archbishopric and a county in itself. It is among 
the most ancient of British cities. — People's Cyclopedia. 

A city so ancient necessarily presents many interesting memorials of an- 
tiquity. — Library of Universal Knowledge. 

The origin of York is so ancient as to be almost lost in fable. — Imperial 
Gazetteer. 

From the time of Septimius Severus, if not earlier, York was the resi- 
dence of the emperors when they visited the provinces, and, in their ab- 
sence, of the imperial legates. — Cyclopadia of Geography. 

Under the Romans, York was, no doubt, the commercial emporium of 
the north part of the island. — McCulloclCs Dictionary. 

Its chief prosperity is due to its being resorted to by the gentry of north 
England as a kind of northern metropolis. — Lippincotts Gazetteer. 

The venerable and most picturesque city of York. — Notes of a Pedestrian 
Tour. 

Nearly all that York has seen or done historically happened in the min- 
ster, and the crow, on the highest tower, sits, as it were, in inquest over 
the coronation place of many happy and unhappy kings. — Walter Thorn- 
bury. 

The renowned city of York, which contains more ancient relics than any 
other city in the kingdom. — John Tirnbs. 

The capital and seat of justice for the largest county in England. — Wil- 
bur Fish, D.D. 

One of the finest cathedral towns in England. — P. B. Cogswell. 

One of the most famous ancient cities in England. . . . Throughout the 
city every thing has an expression of antiquity. — Jacob Abbott. 



YORK. 121 

Looking beyond the life of tliis island, and across the wide ocean to that 
city of the New World which is my own home, and which is so eminently a 
city of to-day. I think to myself that not only to modern England, but to 
us, citizens of the New York of the West, belongs the life-history and 
the cathedral spirit of the Old York of the East. — G. H. Putnam. 

York is a wonderful city — one rich in churches, ruins, and gothic fanes. 
Thick walls — strong and # turreted. with towers and battlements — almost en- 
circle it, and afford a splendid promenade. — Benjamin Moran. 

It was in this city of York that the famous Robinson Crusoe was born ; 
and here, in this city of York, did Jeannie Deans rest her for a day on her 
London journey, with her hospitable countrywoman, Mrs. Bickerton, of the 
Seven Stars: and it was in the country beyond, down in the West Riding, 
that Griirth and Wamba held high colloquy together, among the glades of 
the old oak forest; and that Cedric the Saxon entertained in his low- 
browed hall of Rotherwood, the Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert and Prior 
Aynier of Jarvaulx. — Hugh Miller. 

We felt that all we had read about this old historic city had not prepared 
us for the grandeur with which it presents itself. The towers of the min- 
ster, the feudal aspects of the old walls and gates, excite at once an inter- 
est which has a strange power of fascination. — Thomas and Katharine 
Macquoid. 

York is the historic gate-way by which to enter England. ... A strong- 
hold of ancient Briton fathers, and a capital seat of rude power away back 
in the mists before the time of Christ. ... In the wails and arches of her 
great minster you read the whole history of English architecture. ... A 
kindergarten of English history for grown folks. — W. W. Nevin. 

Encircled by walls and towers, York could never be viewed without re- 
spect, as the very model of an ancient city. — E. J. Willson. 

It is almost impossible to explore the city of York without reverting to 
the scenery of the past, which history has so indelibly traced, as almost to 
give it existence among the objects that surround us. — Mrs. Sigoumey. 

York which carries us back to school-boy days, when we studied of the 
Wars of the Roses, and the houses of York and Lancaster — York, whose 
modern namesake, more than seventeen hundred years its junior in the New 
World, has seventeen times its population. — Curtis Guild. 

Old sacerdotal York, with its august cathedral. . . . Modern improve- 
ment has here and there introduced more of its commonplace barbarisms 
into the busier and genteeler streets than the antiquary would have bar- 
gained for; it has been rubbing off the venerable rust, somewhat in the 
9 



122 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR OS A CHS. 

style adopted by the serving-maid, who scoured the old Roman buckler 
with sand and water till it shone; but York is essentially an ancient city 
still. One may still walk round it on the ramparts erected in the times of 
Edward the First, and tell all their towers, bars, and barbacans; and in thread- 
ing one's way along antique lanes, flanked by domiciles of mingled oaks 
and old brick-work, that belly over like the sides of ships, and were tenanted 
in the days of the later Henrys, one stumbles unexpectedly on rectories 
that have their names recorded in Domesday Book, and churches that 
were built before the conquest. — Hugh Miller. 

York is genuinely old. It is the eleventh century standing almost un- 
touched in the nineteenth. — D. R. Locke. 

York is a quaint old place, and what looks most modern is probably only 
something old, hiding itself behind a new front, as elsewhere in England. 
— Hawthorne. 

The ancient city of York, with its Roman walls and its magnificent min- 
ster; a city which, A. D. 150, was one of the greatest of the Roman sta- 
tions in England, and had a regular government, an imperial palace, and a 
tribunal within its walls. — Curtis Guild. 

As we parade through the intricate streets of York, and meet at every 
corner some relics of olden times, and a church in most of them, it is im- 
possible not to feel that we tread on ground rendered classical in the his- 
tory of England, and that of the Reformation. — A. B. Granville, D.D. 

York is one of the two culminations of the ancient holy places. — Gilbert 
Haven. 

The very names of streets are monuments of antiquity, and the relics of 
Roman, Saxon, and Dane are gathered under the shadow of one of the finest 
cathedrals in the world. — W. Chambers Lefroij. 

York — yes, in York one feels that he is in Old England indeed. Here are 
the old walls, still strong and mossy, that have echoed to the tramp of 
Roman legions, that looked down on Adrian and Constantine the Great, 
that have successively been manned by the Britons, Picts, Danes, and 
Saxons, the latter under command of Hengist, mentioned in the story-legends 
that tell of the pair of warlike Saxon brothers, Hengist and Horsa, the 
latter, whose name in my youthful days always seemed to have some mys- 
terious connection with the great white-horse banner of the Saxon war- 
riors that was wont to float from the masts of their war-ships. — Curtis Guild. 

It is a sleepy, retrospective kind of importance that has remained to 
York, however, as it rests on the banks of the sluggishly moving Ouse, en- 
compassed by the walls and enwrapped in the memories of past centuries. — 
G. H. Putnam. 



YORK. 123 

The principal ruins of York are located within the grounds 
owned by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. 

The most interesting are the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey. 
This abbey was founded by William Rufus in 108S. 

It was burned in 1137 and rebuilt in 1270, and occupied 
by the St. Benedictine monks. 

During the reign of Henry VIII. the abbey was aban- 
doned and left to decay. 

The most interesting building in York is the grand cathe- 
dral. 

The first building known to have been built on the pres- 
ent site of the minster, as it is always called by the people 
of York, was a heathen temple dedicated to Bellona, the 
Roman goddess of war. The next was a small wooden 
chapel, erected by the Northumbrian King Edwin in 627, 
which was dedicated to St. Peter, and in which the king and 
subjects were baptized. 

At the request of Paulinus, the first Archbishop of York, 
appointed by Pope Gregory in 627, Edwin commenced to 
build on this site a large stone church, but before its com- 
pletion he was killed in a battle with the Welsh King Cad- 
wallon. 

Oswald, grandson of Edwin, who, on account of his piety 
and labors in establishing Christianity among the Anglo- 
Saxons, was canonized as a saint, succeeded to the throne 
of Northumbria in 635, and during his reign finished the 
cathedral. 

For thirty years following the death of Oswald, in 642, 
York was subjected to the ravages of pagan wars, no arch- 
bishops were appointed, and the church was gradually 
robbed and destroyed. 

In 669 the cathedral was rebuilt, under the direction of 
Archbishop Wilfred, who received his appointment from 
KingEgfrid, and in 741 it was destroyed by fire. 

With the counsel and assistance of Alcuin, the celebrated 



124 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSAOHS. 

English scholar and friend of Charlemagne, the cathedral 
was again rebuilt in 767 by Archbishop Egbert, and re- 
mained with no material change for three hundred years, 
when it was destroyed by fire in 1069. 

The next builder was an archbishop appointed by the 
Conqueror, and his structure lasted until June 4, 1137, when 
it was partially ruined by lire, and remained in this condi- 
tion until 1171, when the choir and crypts were restored by 
Archbishop Rogers. 

In 1220 Archbishop Walter de Grey commenced the south 
transept, which he completed before his death. 

The north transept and middle tower were built under the 
direction of John le Romain, treasurer of the church. The 
nave was commenced by his son in 1291, and finished, to- 
gether with the entire west end, by his successors, who 
completed the structure. 

In the fourteenth century the old choir and the central or 
"lantern tower," so called because in olden times a light was 
placed on its summit as a signal of alarm to the surrounding 
country, were rebuilt, which was the last important change 
made in the cathedral. 

Before entering we stop for a moment to look at the ex- 
terior of this famous minster. Knowing the fact of its many 
builders, one naturally expects to see some incongruity of 
design, but none is apparent, for, although including five 
different styles of Gothic architecture, so finely adapted are 
the varied parts to each other that they seem to have been 
planned by one architect. 

The cathedral has three towers, one in the center and two 
on the west front, the latter each 196 feet high. Its extreme 
length from east to west is 524 feet, and its extreme width 
from north to south 241. 

The archway of the west entrance door is ornamented 
with wonderful carvings, representing the fall of Adam and 
Eve, and their expulsion from the garden of Eden. 



YORK. 12.5 

York Cathedral is noted for its beautiful stained-glass 
windows. 

The windows of this cathedral present a gorgeous display of ancient 
stained glass not to be met with in any similar building in the world. In 
fact the minster exhibits more windows than solid fabric to exterior view, 
imparting a marvelous degree of lightness to the huge structure, while 
inside the vastness of the space gives the spectator opportunity to stand at 
a proper distance and look up at them as they are stretched before the view 
like great paintings, framed in exquisite tracery of stone-work, with the 
best possible effect of light. — Curtis Guild. 

The east window is the largest. It is seventy-five feet 
high and thirty broad, and " for magnitude and beauty of 
coloring is unequaled in the world." 

The glass of the great west window is of the richest and 
most gorgeous colors. 

The marigold window, so called from its resemblance to 
this flower, is in the south transept. It is circular in form, 
Avith a diameter of twenty-seven feet, and in its general 
effect is very beautiful. The north transept contains the 
window called the "Five Sisters." The tradition of this 
window is described by Charles Dickens in his novel, Nich- 
olas Nickhby : 

A great many years ago . . . there dwelt in the ancient city of York, five 
maiden sisters. These five sisters were all of surpassing beauty. 

But, if the four elder sisters were lovely, how beautiful was the youngest, 
a fair creature of sixteen; the blushing tints in the soft bloom on the fruit, 
or the delicate painting on the flower, are not more exquisite than was the 
blending of the rose and lily in her gentle face, or the deep blue of her 
eye. . . . Alice, dear Alice; what living thing within the sphere of her 
gentle witchery could fail to love her! . . . 

They dwelt in an old wooden house . . . whence a stout archer might 
have winged an arrow to Saint Mary's Abbey. The old abbey flourished 
then; and the five sisters, living on its fair domains, paid yearly dues to the 
black monks of Saint Benedict, to which fraternity it belonged. 

It was a bright and sunny morning in the pleasant time of summer, 
when one of those black monks emerged from the abbey portal, and bent his 
steps toward the house of the fair sisters. . . . 

The noise of soft voices iu conversation and of merry laughter fell upon 



126 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACIIS. 

his ears ere he had advanced many paces; and raising his eyes ... lie 
descried at no great distance the rive sisters seated on the grass, with Alice 
in the center, all busily plying their customary task of embroidery. ... It 
was a kind of sampler of large size that each sister had before her ; the 
device was of a complex and intricate description, and the pattern and 
colors of all five were tne same. . . . 

The monk resting his chin upon his hands looked from one to the other 
in silence. 

"How much better," he said, at length, " to shun all such thoughts and 
chances, and in the peaceful shelter of the Church devote your lives to 
heaven? . . . The veil, daughters; the veil ! " 

" Never, sisters,"' cried Alice. " Barter not the light and air of heaven, 
and the freshness of earth and all the beautiful things which breathe upon 
it, for the cold cloister and the cell." . . . 

Time passed away' as a tale that is told. . . . There was a sullen darkness 
in the sky, and ihe sun had gone angrily down, tinting the dull clouds with 
the last traces of his wrath when the same black monk walked slowly on, 
with folded arms, within a stone's throw of the abbey. . . . But not again 
did his ear encounter the sound of laughter, or his eyes rest upon the beau- 
tiful figures of the five sisters. All was silent and deserted. . . . 

The monk glided into the house and entered a low, dark room. Four 
sisters sat there. Their black garments made their pale faces whiter still, 
and time and sorrow had worked deep ravages. . . . 

And Alice, where was she? In heaven. . . . 

They sent abroad to artists of great celebrity in those times, and having 
obtained the Church's sanction to their work of piety, caused to be executed 
in five large compartments of richly stained glass, a faithful copy of their 
old embroidery work. 

These were fitted into a large window until that time bare of ornament; 
and when the sun shone brightly, as she had so well loved to see it, the 
familiar patterns were reflected in their original colors, and throwing a brill- 
iant light upon the pavement fell warmly on the name of Alice. For many 
hours in every da)' the sisters paced slowly up and down the nave, or knelt 
by the side of the flat, broad stone. Only three were seen in the customary 
place after many years : then but two, and for a long time afterward but 
one solitary female bent with age. At length she came no more, and the 
stone bore five plain Christian names. 

That stone has worn away and been replaced by others, and many gen- 
erations have come and gone since then. Time has softened down the 
colors, but the same stream of light si ill falls upon the forgotten tomb, of 
which no trace remains: and, to this day, the stranger is shown in York 
cathedral an old window called the Five Sisters. 



YORK. 127 

The organ screen is a curious and elaborate piece of work- 
manship, ornamented with the statues of the English sov- 
ereigns from William the Conqueror to Henry VI. 

The nave has eight Gothic arches supported by pillars, 
with beautifully sculptured capitals. 

The choir contains some exquisite carvings in wood. 

The cathedral contains numerous monuments of ancient 
kings, archbishops, and nobles. 

The Chapter-house is considered by many tourists the 
most wonderful feature of the cathedral. 

The Chnpier-house attached to York Minster is said to be the most per- 
fect specimen of Gothic architecture in the world, and is certainly one of the 
most magnificent interiors of the kind I ever gazed upon. ... It is a per- 
fect octagon, of sixty-three feet in diameter, and the height from the center 
to the middle knot of the roof sixty-seven feet, without an interruption of a 
single pillar, being wholly dependent on a single key-pin, geometrically 
placed in the center. 

Seven squares of the octagon have each a window of stained glass, with 
the armorial bearings of benefactors of the church, the eighth square being 
the entrance; below the windows are the seats or stalls for the canons and 
dignitaries of the Church when they assemble here for installations and 
other purposes. The columns around the side of this room are carved in 
the most profuse manner, with the most singular figures, such as an ugly 
old friar embracing a young girl to the infinite delight of a group of nuns, 
grotesque figures of men and animals, monks playing all sorts of pranks, 
grinning faces, etc. The whole formation of this exquisite^ constructed 
building shows thorough geometric knowledge in the builders, and the en- 
trance to it is by a vestibule in the form of a mason's square. — Curtis Guild. 

The Chapter-house, an octagonal hall, with vaulted roof, a tessellated 
floor, and seven arched windows of old painted glass, the richest that I ever 
saw or imagined, each looking like an inestimable treasury of precious 
stones, with a gleam and glow even in the sullen light of this grey morning. 
What would they do with the sun shining through them ! with all their 
brilliancy, moreover, they were as soft as ro^e leaves. I never saw any 
piece of human architecture so beautiful as this Chapter-house. — Hawthorne. 

Opening from the crypt are remains of the old Norman 
and Saxon churches, on the site of which the present minster 
was erected. These remains consist of a part of the old 



128 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR08AGH8. 

wall, made of lime and sandstone laid in "the herring-bone 
manner and about six feet thick, also several pillars, a twisted 
column, and an ancient tomb." 

The vestries contain a number of interesting relics, among 
them the Horn of Ulphus. 

Ulphus, sou of Thorald, who ruled in the west of Deira, by reason of the 
difference which was likely to rise between his sons about the sharing of 
his lands and lordships after his death, resolved to make them all alike, and 
thereupon coming to York with that horn wherewith he used to drink, rilled 
it witli wine, and before the altar of God and Saint Peter, prince of the 
apostles, kneeling devoutly drank the wine, and by that ceremony enfeoffed 
this church with all his lands and revenues. 

It bears the following inscription in Latin: "This horn, Ulphus, prince of 
the western parts of Deira, originally gave to the Church of St. Peter, 
together with all his lands and revenues. Lord Henry Fairfax at last 
restored it, when it had been lost or conveyed away. The dean and chap- 
ter decorated it anew, A. D. 1675." 

The other relics include a drinking-bowl belonging to 
Archbishop Scrope; the old coronation chair of the Saxon 
kings, in which Edward IV., Richard I., and James I. were 
crowned; and an old Bible, dated 1011, and presented to the 
church by Charles II. 

York, with its minster, that dream of beauty realized. From its roof I 
saw two rainbows overarching that lovely country. Through its aisles I 
heard grand music pealing. — Margaret Fuller Ossoli. 

York Cathedral is grand from its size, and the harmony which reigns 
throughout. — Sarah B. Wister. 

It is very stately, very beautiful, this minster . . . not stern in its effect, 
which I suppose must be owing to the elaborate detail with which its great 
surface is wrought all over, like the chasing of a lady's jewel-box, and yet 
so grand. — Hawthorne. 

Both within and without the architecture of the minster and its historical 
associations supply one of the real glories of England. — Morfurd's Guide- 
Book. 

The minster, the most wonderful evidence of the monkish supremacy, 
and the most commanding edifice in England. ... It is a proud monument 
of the past, and its harmonious proportions, rich details, and great inagni- 



YORK. 129 

tude command silence and admiration, and cause the beholder to stand un- 
covered unconsciously before it. — Benjamin Moran. 

The famous minster, the pride of all English cathedrals .' . . a mass of 
beautiful design, of mingling lines and melting shadows. — James Freeman 
Clark. 

That splendid specimen of Gothic architecture to which it may be doubted 
whether an equal is to be found in this or in any other country. — John 
Barrow. 

That most august of temples, the noble minster of York. — Scot. 

It is certainly not surpassed by that of any church in England in its fine 
proportions, chaste enrichments, or scientific arrangements. 

Thou stately York! and ye, whose splendors cheer 
Isis and Cam, to patient science dear 1 — Wordsworth. 

Not only a singular ornament to the city, and these northern parts, but 
to the whole kingdom. — Drake. 

A vista of greater magnificence and beauty than that which is seen from 
the western entrance of the edifice, architecture has perhaps never pro- 
duced. — John Timbs. 

A whole and magnificent temple. . . . That colossal pile. ... A pure 
model of symmetrical beauty in Gothic structure. — A. B. Granville, D.D. 

Enter and an open hall receives you, ninety feet high, and hundreds of 
feet wide and long without a seat, or aught save immense pillars to inter- 
rupt the gaze. You maj- well take your hat from your head. The spot is 
worthy of veneration, not for its 'If but for Him to whom it was built. — Gil- 
bert Haven. 

York Minster, or the cathedral, is the finest church in England. — Amer- 
ican Cyclopaedia. 

This cathedral takes rank with the finest specimens of Gothic architect- 
ure in the world. — Cliambers's Encyclopaedia. 

Its design is full of dignity and grandeur . . . the western front is, in 
our opinion, the most striking part of the cathedral ; the great window, with its 
intricate tracery, in which the outline of a heart appears, being certainly one 
of the finest in England; and the Chapter-house, with its conical roof, 
breaks most pleasingly the lines on the northern side of the building. — 
Picturesque Europe. 

Like a mount it reared 

Its massy front, with pinnacle and tower, 

August' y beautiful. — Mrs. Sigourney. 

The grand cathedral . . . towers above the city, making itself conspje- 



1:!0 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 



uous every-where; and the tradition that one hears all around the precincts, 
that high in the windows the gorgeous glass is principally composed of 
precious stones, becomes halt" credible if we look to the clere-story on a 
bright summer's day. — Alfred Rimmer. 

This grand type of human aspiration toward the vastness and majesty of 
the divine life. ... A monument of ancient faith, a towered worship, God's 
praise iu pillared stone. — Grace Greenwood. 

Looking back along the vale of years how many memories come throng- 
ing up as we gaze upon York Cathedral, or linger beneath its overarching 
roof I Kings and saints have knelt where we kneel, have prayed where we 
pray. Here from age to age have come the warrior in his strength, the old 
man with his hoary "crown of glory," the sinner with his burden, the 
maiden with her joy. — Constance Anderson. 

I had heard much of this wonderful edifice, but it quite equaled my ex- 
pectations. A book might be written in describing it. — Wilbur Fish, D.D. 

This magnificent and stupendous pile which occupied nearly two hun- 
dred years in erection, and has stood for three hundred years since its com- 
pletion, is, without doubt, one of the most magnificent Gothic structures in 
the world, and excels in beauty and magnificence most ecclesiastical build- 
ings of the Middle Ages. — Curtis Guild. 

Few English cathedrals exceed York Minster in dignity and massive 
grandeur. — Joel Cook. 

The finest monument of old architecture in the British domains. — J. P. 
Duii/in, D.D. 

The vast size of the cathedral, its delicate carvings, lofty arches and 
columns, exquisitely painted windows, fill the mind with wonder. One 
wanders through these long aisles in silence, gazing at the scene, while 
memory is busy with the memorable deeds associated with its history. — 
Prof. J. S. Lee. 

In its exquisite proportions and massive strength it stands like a picture 
of the infallible Church, to which all roads should bring the inquirer, and 
which, filling and satisfying the vision of the seekers, soars in its grandeur 
far above the merely human creations of the world. — G. H. Putman. 

A stranger need not inquire the way to York Minster; for it is its own 
great guide to its own great temple. . . . We spent some time under an ivy 
shade . . . busying the eye in climbing from point to point unraveling the 
Gothic complexity which binds the whole. If you take it apart, you may 
form numerous large churches and chapels, each one a marvel; each one 
having its Gothic arches and niches, with windows whose dull colors from 
the outside inadequately foretell the rosplendent beauties which are revealed 



TORE. 131 

within. Flowers and leaves, obdurate to frost, bedeck each pinnacle; while 
spire after spire rise around like a petrified forest. Festoons of stone, richly 
carved, grace the different arches, while in niches stand the forms of prophet 
and saint. Quaint, grim, and humorous heads are protruded at different 
points. Together, the immense structure constitutes a maze, in which the 
sight may wander and in grateful variety be lost. ... If we go within, and 
note the lofty vault, with its intertwisted and adorning branches and foliage, 
the idea of a forest of giant trees interlaced cannot be repressed. — S. S. Cox. 

York Cathedral (I say it now, for it is my present feeling) is 1 he most 
wonderful work that ever came from the hands of man. Indeed, it seems 
like "a house not made with hands," but rather to have come down from 
above, bringing an awful majesty and sweetness with it; and it is so light 
and aspiring, with all its vast columns and pointed arches, that one would 
hardly wonder if it should ascend back to heaven again by its mere spirit- 
uality. 

Positively the pillars and arches of the choir are so very beautiful 
that they give the impression of being exquisitely polished, though such is 
not the fact; but their beauty throws a gleam around them. — Hawthorne. 

My first walk through the city terminated, as a matter of course, at the 
cathedral, so famous for its architectural magnificence and grandeur. It is 
a noble pile, one of the sublimest things wrought by human hands which 
the island contains. As it rose gray and tall before me in the thickening 
twilight — for another day had passed and another evening was falling — I 
was conscious of a more awe-struck and more expansive feeling than any 
mere work of art had ever awakened in me before. The impression more 
resembled what I have sometimes experienced on some solitary ocean shore, 
o'erhung by dizzy precipices, and lashed high by the foaming surf; or be- 
neath the craggy brow of some vast mountain, that overlooks, amid the 
mute sublimities of nature, some far-spread, uninhabited wilderness of forest 
and moor. — Hugh Miller. 

This cathedral of York has a severe grandeur peculiar to itself. I saw it 
with a deep undertone of feeling; for it was the last I should behold. No 
one who has appreciated tie wonders of a new world of art and association 
can see, without emotion, the door closing upon it, perhaps forever. I 
lingered long here, and often turned to gaze again ; and after going out went 
back, dice more to fill my soul with a last long look, in which I bade adieu 
.o all the historic memories of the old world. I thought of the words, " we 
bave a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heav- 
ens." These glorious arches, this sublime history of human power and 
skill, is only a shadow of some eternal substance, which, in ages to come, 
God will reveal to us. — Mrs. Slowe. 



132 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TliOSACHS. 

X. . 

THE ENGLISH LAKES. 



The English lake district extends over a portion of three 
counties in northern England : Cumberland, Westmoreland, 
and Lancaster. Of the eighteen lakes, Windermere, Conis- 
ton, Grasmere, Rydalwater, Ulleswater, Thirlmere, Derwent- 
water, Bassenthwaite, and Buttermere are oftenest visited. 
Aside from the lakes the region abounds in mountain ridges 
or fells, abrupt rugged mountain passes, and water-falls. 

Among the highest mountain peaks, which are easily as- 
cended, are Skiddaw, six miles north of Keswick; Helvellyn, 
near Thirlmere; the Langdale and Scafell Pikes, lying be- 
tween Windermere and Wastewater; the Old Man, near Lake 
Coniston; Lough rigg Fell, opposite to, and Wansfell, just 
north of, the town of Ambleside. 

The principal cascades are Airey, on the west side of 
Ulleswater; Lodore, on the east side of Derwentwater, and 
Rydal, near the east end of Rydahvater. 

Whatever direction the tourist may take in the lake dis- 
trict he is sure to find himself surrounded by grand, pict- 
uresque scenery. For many years prominent men in England 
have spent part of their time at least in this lovely region, 
and their fine villas, each having an individual name, are 
scattered among the valleys, along the lake shores, and on 
prominent eminences. 

Nature has been most fortunate in this locality, not only in 
the beautiful arrangement of her scenery, but in the beau- 
tiful descriptions given thereof by some of her gifted writers. 
Wordsworth, Southey, Christopher North, De Quincey, Dr. 
Arnold, Harriet Martineau, and Mrs. Hemans have, by their 
pens, all contributed to make the lake district famous. 



THE ENGLISH LAKES. 133 

The famous lake district. . . . The most vaunted region of English 
scenery. — Sarah B. Wister. 

The lake country is but a London suburb. — Hawthorne. 

The scenery is all picturesque, and sometimes sublime. — M. D. Conway. 

Add the natural beauty of the lake district to that which flows from its 
literary and historic associations, and few places equal it in interest. — Prof. 
John S. Lee. 

The mountains are all green, and nowhere else have I seen vegetation so 
green. — A. P. Peabody. 

Falls and cascades are a great feature all through this country. — John 

Burroughs. 

Equal beauties and greater sublimity may be found elsewhere, but 
nowhere surely has such immense variety of natural charms been gathered 
within the same space. — English Pictures. 

The lake district, famed in the verse of England's latest laureates, and in 
the prose of multitudinous tourists. — Gilbert Haven. 

For a descriptive guide to the lakes we advise the tourist to provide him- 
self with pocket editions of Wordsworth, Wilson, Coleridge, and Southey. 
... If any adequate idea be gained from books of this lovely scenery, it 
will be only from the inspired outpourings of those lovers of nature. — Of- 
ficial Tourists' Guide. 

That softening grace of really green and fertile valleys, such as wind 
through the English lake district, parceling it out into a number of glorious 
landscapes, each compact and distinct in itself. — Bad-deity's Guide-Book. 

The English lakes lie embosomed among mountains of singular beauty. — 
Mm ford's Guide-Book. 

There is scarcely a nook or dell, a country-seat or rural hamlet, a mount- 
ain top or a hidden glen, a shady retreat on the shores of the lake, or a 
moss-covered rock by the woodland stream that has not been made the sub- 
ject of a poem. — Rev. J E. Edwards. 

If the reader will look at a good map of England and Scotland, and find 
SoUvay Frith, which is on the west coast, and then look at the country im- 
mediately south of it, occupying a portion of the counties of Cumberland, 
Westmoreland, and Lancaster, he will "see that it is full of lakes and 
mountains, and will find, on visiting it, that its picturesque attractions are 
unequaled in any other part of England. — Curtis Guild. 

For the lover of nature and healthful recreation, no tour could be devised 
of a more pleasing or agreeable character than that which these lakes 
afford. — Black's Guide-Book. 



134 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

The lake district is a labyrinth of attractive excursions, amid which a 
month could be agreeably spent. — Satchel Guide. 

I question whether any part of the world looks so beautiful as England — 
this part of England at least — on a fine summer morning.— -Hawthorne. 

I climbed the Knob Scar . . . whence a very fine view of the lake scenery 
is to be obtained. ... I was surrounded by mountains, and beneath me lay 
Rydalwater, Grasmere, and other lakes. But the main thought in my 
mind was that Wordsworth had looked upon this scenery day by day; that 
here his mind had been fed and strengthened: that this hill, that lake, had 
been his muse; every thing around me bore the coloring of the poet's mind. 
This was the nature which he had interpreted and idealized. There was a 
glory upon these hills not known to sea or land elsewhere, but borrowed 
from the poet's dream. The landscape was made alive by the power of 
thought, pervaded throughout with soul, humanized and elevated by the 
wonderful magic of imagination. — James Freeman Clarke. 

Each lake hath its promontories; that every step you walk, every stroke 
you row, undergo miraculous metamorphoses, accordant to the "change 
that comes o'er the spirit of your dream," as your imagination glances again 
over the transfigured mountains. . . . Each lake hath its hanging terraces 
of immortal green, that along her shores run glimmering far down beneath 
the superficial sunshine, when the poet in his becalmed canoe among the 
luster could fondly swear by all that is most beautiful on earth, in air, and 
in water, that these three are one, blended as they are by the interfusing 
spirit of heavenly peace. — Professor Wilson. 

Vain it is to talk of any earthly beauty ever equaling this country in my 
eyes. — Thomas Arnold, D.D. 

The famous "lake country" of England. It does not cover a largo area, 
. . . but its compact beauties have a charm of rugged outline and luxuriant 
detail that in a condensed form reproduce the Alpine lakes of Northern 
Italy. — Joel Cook. 

This wild and picturesque region full of romantic beauty. — Prof. John S. 
Lee. 

Without the sublime which marks the shores of our lakes, there is so 
much to admire in this scenery that I could spend a summer charmingly in 
the midst of it, and never tire of looking on it by day or night. — S. I. Prime. 

The traveler finds here beautiful nature unadorned but not inanimate; 
through reverent genius a subtle life-giving breath has gone abroad, and 
invested hill, dale, and lake with mystical groves and grots and fountains, 
besides which even the enchanted Valley of Tristan is somewhat theatrical. 
— J/. D. Conway. 



THE ENGLISH LAKES. 135 



The " lake country " of England has for us a double interest, because of 
the indefinable charm associated with its richly clad hills, its pretty ex- 
panses of water, and its rich valleys, and because the district was once the 
home of Wordsworth, De Quincey, Southey, Arnold, Harriet Martineau, and 
Mrs. Hemans. There are in all this district no mountains which rise above 
the height of four thousand feet, no lakes which we should account large ; 
but lake and valley and forests and country roads are all in the most exqui- 
site setting. Here and there, on the " Fells " and " Scars," as they are called, 
there are bits of wild scenery approaching the grand. — Edward King. 

This district has especially a " homesome " aspect, if we may coin the 
word. It looks a place not only to be visited, but also to be lived in. The 
Alpine glens, the Scotch moors, the Norway fiords, are well enough in the 
bright summer time; but we can well believe their aspect siern in autumn 
tempest or in the wintry blast ; while here, in storm as in sunshine, the 
kindly look never quite departs from the face of nature, to which the Christ- 
mas snow adds a new beauty, like the silvered hair on a mother's brow. — 
Picturesque Europe. 

Every thing is perfectly subdued and polished and imbued with human 
taste, except, indeed, the outline of the hills, which continue very much the 
same as God made them. — Hawthorne. 

I have walked up and down and across the lake district of England, paus- 
ing at every point of particular interest, and shall never forget my sensations 
as, at the close of a spring day. I entered the old grave-yard at Grasmere 
and stood by the grave of Wordsworth and Hartley Coleridge; or my first 
view of the home of Southey, and the mountains round about ii ; or of the 
homes and haunts of poets and scholars who had made the lake district their 
abiding place. — England as seen by an American Banker. 

But a calm sunset slanted still 
O'er hoary crag and heath-flushed hill, 
And at their foot, by birchen brake, 
Dimpled and smiled an English lake. 

I roamed where I had roamed before, 
With heart elate in days of yore, 
Through the green glens by Rotha side, 
Which Arnold loved, where Wordsworth died. 

— J. Truman. 

Bowness, on the eastern shore, and Ambleside, at the north- 
ern extremity of Windermere, are both central points from 
which excursions are easily made to all parts of the lake 
districts. 



136 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

Opinions differ as to which is the most beautiful of all the 
lakes. Each has its special attractions and admirers. 

Windermere is the largest and contains a number of islands. 

Windermere, low hills on either side confine its waters. — Prof. John S. 
Lee. 

Lake "Windermere, with its islands and its fair hill-sides. — Elias Yarnall 

The glowing sunset lias changed Windermere into a vast opal. — M. D. 
Conway. 

The water was like a strip and gleam of sky fitly set among lovely slopes 
of earth. — Hawthor?ie. 

Beautiful Windermere, our first love and our last, in all this hauuted 
realm. — English Pictures. 

Windermere, nestling beneath majestic crags. It is the perfection of quiet 
beaut}'. — Gilbert Haven. # 

The lake is surrounded by gentle well-wooded eminences.— A merican 
Cyclopcedia. 

Soft, rich beauty is the principal characteristic of the island, of the lake, 
of the wooded snores, and of the scenery around. — Chambers's Encyclopaedia. 

Windermere, the queen of all the Cumberland lakes. — Harper's Guide- 
Book. 

There is something exquisitely soft in Windermere. It has a feminine 
delicacy, and with its light touches of beauty draws out the fatigue from 
the weary brain. — Andrew P. Peabody. 

This lake is a beautiful irregular sheet of water, . . . and numerous little 
islands add to its picturesque appearance, the scenery being soft and grace- 
ful ; the gentle slopes and eminences that surround it, and the numerous 
country-seats and cottages peeping from the wooded slopes, combining to 
render it one of those pictures of quiet beauty that English poets delight to 
sing of. — Curtis Guild. 

A moonlight row on Windermere, who can tell its charms? Far out on 
the soft motionless water, watching the lights on the shore, each making its 
comet tail in the still lake, gliding at our own sweet will, and across the re- 
flex of many a star; pausing now and then to count the sounds faintly 
wafted through the slumberous air, . . . voyaging round a promontory 
dense with green foliage, which made a dark path in the water, we neared 
the mouth by which the Rothay and the Brathay bring their united waters 
into the lake. The Rothay comes from singing its gentle praises beside the 
hallowed graves of Grasmere ; the Brathay comes with its sobbing dirge for 



THE ENGLISH LAKES. 137 



the beauty and the joy that briefly lit up its banks, then withered amid 
pain and made it a name of desolation. For Brathay is associated with 
Charles Lloyd, a man much valued by the lake poets. — M. D. Conivay. 

We left the wood and stood on the shore ; all the fair plain of Windermere 
lay before us, wind-swept and troubled, with great dashes of blue along its 
surface, and a breezy sky moving overhead. Near at hand there were soft 
green hills shining in the sunlight, and farther off long and narrow promon- 
tories piercing out into the warer with their dark line of trees, growing 
almost black against the silvery glory of the lake. But then again the 
hurrying wind would blow away the shadow of the cloud; a beam of sun- 
light would run along the line of trees, making them glow green above the 
blue of the water; and from this moving and shifting and glowing picture 
we turned to the far and ethereal masses of the Langdale pikes and the 
mountains above Ambleside, which changed as the changing clouds were 
blown over from the west. We got into a boat and went out into the wil- 
derness of water and wind and sky. Now we saw the reedy shores behind 
us, and the clean and shallow water at the brink of which we had been 
standing receiving the troubled reflection of the woods. Out here the beau- 
tiful islands of Lady Holm, Thompson's Holm, and Belle Tsle were shimmer- 
ing in green. Far up there in the north the slopes and gullies of the great 
mountains were showing a thousand hues of soft velvet-like grays and 
blues, and even warming up into a pale yellowish-green where a ray of the 
sunlight struck the lower slopes. Over by the Furness Fells the clouds lay 
in heavier masses and moved slowlv, but elsewhere there was a brisk 
motion over the lake that changed its beauties even as one looks at them. — 
William Black. 

Windermere stretching away to the south, its shore lined with gradually 
sloping hills, while minor basins of water lie among the surrounding mount- 
ains, and rapid streams foam and roar at the foot of the rocky highland. 
Behind, to the north, the highest peaks loom up to the skies with their 
broken and irregular summits, while in the vale beneath lies the little town, 
with its church spire pointing to heaven, like a startled dove nestling under 
the broad shadow of the mountain. Rydal Knob, or Knob Scar, near the 
residence of the poet Wordsworth, forms the background to the picture that 
lay in connection with bold and towering cliffs, and to the west the scenery 
is wild and chaotic, giving a strong impression of what is the grandeur of 
more rugged mountain districts. — Benjamin Moran. 

I am writing to you from an old-fashioned alcove in the little garden, 

around which the sweet-brier and the rose-tree have completely run wild ; 

and I look down from it upon lovely Windermere, which seems at this 

moment like another sky, so truly is every summer cloud and tint of azure 

10 



138 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

pictured in its transparent mirror. . . . The situation is one of the deepest 
retirement; but the bright lake before me, with all its fairy barks and sails, 
glancing like " tilings of life" over its blue waters, prevents the solitude 
from being overshadowed by any thiug like sadness. — Mrs. Hemaits. 

0, sweet Windermere, how blest 

Is he, who on thy marge may rest, 

Rear his bright bower 'neath summer's ray, 

And from the loved world would steal away. 

— Mrs. Sigourney. 
. . . Spacious "Windermere, . . . 
" Turn where we may," said I, " we cannot err 
In this delicious region." Cultured slopes, 
Wild tracts of forest ground, and scattered groves. 
And mountains bare, or clothed with ancient woods, 
Surrounded us; and as we held our way 
Along the level of the glassy flood, 
They ceased not to surround us. — Wordsivorth. 

Bowness, on the east shore of Windermere, is a very con- 
venient and pleasant place for the tourist to locate. The 
scenery in the immediate vicinity is very beautiful, steamers 
ply the lake from end to end, and coaches leave daily for 
principal points in all the lake region. 

Between Bowness and Ambleside, near the head of Win- 
dermere, the most interesting localities are Elleray, Calgarth 
Park, Troutbeck Valley, Low- wood, and Dove Nest. 

At Elleray is located the cottage once inhabited by the 
Scottish author, Professor John Wilson, better known, per- 
haps, by the name of Christopher North, whose life and pen 
have surrounded the English lakes with a halo of charm- 
ing thoughts and descriptions. East of Elleray is Orrest 
Head, an eminence famous for its fine view. 

The English prelate, Richard Watson, who wrote An 
Apology for the Bible, published in 1796, lived during the last 
years of his life nt Calgarth Park, where his house still stands. 

Professor Wilson claimed that the finest scenery in En- 
gland was to be seen on the road from Low-wood to Trout- 
beck. 



THE ENGLISH LAKES. 139 



The latter is a quaint little town, picturesquely located. 
Low-wood has a commodious hotel, which stands on the lake 
shore, and a little farther north is the cottage, Dove Nest, 
where Mrs. Hemans spent the summer of 1830. She has 
given glowing descriptions of the charming scenery there- 
abouts. 

Ambleside, one mile from the northern end of Windermere, 
is noted for its wonderful mountain scenery. From this 
point the peaks of Wansfell, on the east, and Loughrigg 
Fell and Langdale, on the west, are easily visited. 

The beauty of the Ambleside valley is greatly enhanced 
by rivers and smaller streams. 

The Stock Gill, emptying into the Roth ay near the town, 
has a wonderful fall of water, which divides itself into four 
parts. 

Rydal Mount and Rydal Hall are about a mile and a quar- 
ter from Ambleside. 

Wordsworth came to live at the mount in 1813, and died 
there April 23, 1850. 

Since that time this lovely spot has become one of the 
shrines of earth. The park surrounding Rydal Hall con- 
tains two famous water-falls. Rydal Lake, though small, 
is very beautiful. 

Xever again car. one look upon mere Rj^dalwater ; he must see therein 
the reflected vault of Wordsworth's sky." — M. D. Conwny. 

Above the shore of the lake, not a great way from "Wordsworth's resi- 
dence, there is a flight of steps hewn in a rock and ascending to a rock-seat 
where a good view of the lake may be attained; and, as Wordsworth has 
doubtless sat there hundreds of times, so did we ascend and sit down and 
look at the hills and at the flags on the lake's shore. . . . The hills about 
Rydalwater are not very lofty, but are sufficiently so as objects of every- 
day view — objects to live with. — Hawthorne. 

Rydalwater, softly swelling hills crowned the farther border of the lake, 
which strangely and inexplicably, at their base, appeared to meet other 
corresponding hills, to the eye just as solid and distinct, and so closely 
joined to the former oues as to make a single mass, lifting one head into the 



140 FROM TEE THAMES TO THE TROSACIIS. 

sky above, dropping another into the sky below, till the earth-surrounding 
heaven seemed for once to be revealed in full circle. — C. A. Barlol. 

On the west side of the Uothay River, under the shadow 
of Loughrigg Fell, are several beautiful villas, among them 
Fox How, once the hume of the English educator, Dr. 
Thomas Arnold. 

The town and lake of Grasmere is four miles north-east 
from Ambleside, and on the road thither we pass the Wish- 
ing Gate, immortalized by Wordsworth's pen. 

The poet lived at Grasmere, in a cottage called the Dove 
and Olive-bough, from 1799 to 1808, when he removed to 
Fox Ghyll, a cottage just back of the village. 

The Dove was occupied by the English author, De 
Quincey, from 1809 until 1819, when he went to live in the 
"Nab" on RydalLake. 

Wordsworth and his wife are buried in the cemetery of 
St. Oswald's Church, at Grasmere. A memorial tablet has 
been placed in the church " by his friends and neighbors, in 
testimony of respect, affection, and gratitude." 

Rough, humble as is the church of Grasmere, its " God's acre " is classic 
ground. Here rests poor Hartley Coleridge, who closed his eyes in the next 
village; and here Wordsworth, who spent the earlier years of his married 
life in Grasmere, sleeps among the kinsfolk and the scenes he loved so well. 
It would be hard to find a spot more like an earthly paradise — so near to the 
green lake, its surface ruffled by "one little isle," while all around are green 
meadows, wooded slopes, with the glimpse into wild Easedale to enhance, by 
contrast, their riches; and, above all, the varied forms of Seat Sandal and 
Helm Crag, guarding the deep impression of Dunmail Raise. — Picturesque 
Europe. 

At St. Oswald's. 
Within the church I knelt, where many a year 
Wordsworth had worshiped, while his musing eye 
Wandered o'er mountain, fell, and scar, and sky, 
That rimmed the silver circle of Grasmere, 
Whose crystal held an underworld as clear 
As that which girt it round ; and questioned why 
The place was sacred for his lifted sigli 
More than the humble dalesman's kneeling near. 



THE ENGLISH LAKES. 141 

Strange spell of Genius 1 — that can melt the soul 
To reverence tenderer than o'er it falls 
Beneath the marvelous heavens which God hath made, 
And swajr it with such human, sweet control, 
That holier henceforth seem these simple walls, 
Because within them once a poet prayed I 

— Margaret J. Preston. 
Grasmere Lake is smaller than Windermere and larger than Rydal. Its 
shores are surrounded by high mountains. — Anon. 

The heart of all the lakes, Grasmere! — Prof. J. M. Hoppin. 

Grasmere is the most rural of all the lake hamlets. Tt is in many 
respects the finest, and is more than any other associated with the poets. — 
Gilbert Haven. 

There was a quiet splendor, almost grandeur, about Grasmere vale, such 
as I had not seen elsewhere — a kind of monumental beauty and dignity that 
agreed well with one's conception of the loftier strains of the poet. — John 
Burroughs. 

We took a narrow road leading up on the mountain on the west side of 
Grasmere Lake ; coming down a little, we ascended once more to lcok 
down on Rydalwater. . . . These lakes, with their dark mountain settings, 
are like mirrors in their black transparency. — Elias Yarnall. 

vale of Grasmere I tranquil and shut out 
From all the strife that shakes a jarring world. 

— Mrs. Sigourney. 
A Remembrance op Grasmere. 
vale and lake, within your mountain urn, 
Smiling so tranquilly, and set so deep! 
Oft doth your dreamy loveliness return, 
Coloring the tender shadows of my sleep 
With light Elysian ; for the hues that steep 
Your shores in melting luster, seem to float . 
On golden clouds from spirit-lands remote, 
Isles of the blest ; and in our memory keep 
Their places with holiest harmonies. Fair scene, 
Most loved by evening and her dewy star ! 
0! ne'er may man, with touch unhallowed, jar 
The perfect music of the charm serene ! 
Still, still unchanged, may one sweet region wear 
Smiles that subdue the soul to love, and tears, and prayer ! 

— Mrs. Hemans. 



142 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

Gra3mere is a beautiful sheet of water, with a magnificent valley and 
mountain view from its upper end. — P. B. Cogswell. 

A few miles west of Windermere is the smaller lake of 
Coniston. The mountain scenery around the northern shores 
is very grand. Two of the higher peaks, the Old Man and 
Wetherlam, are often ascended. The view from the former 
peak is considered the finer. 

The lovely lake of Coniston. The head of the lake is the part chiefly in- 
teresting, both from the sublime character of the mountain barriers and 
from the intricacy of the little valleys at their base. — Be Quincey. 

Thou lone and lovely water, would I were 

A dweller by thy deepest solitude. — Mary Ilowitt. 

What can be more beautiful than the views from the hill-sides above the 
head of Coniston water ? — English Pictures. 

Crags and grassy slopes, green fields and heather-clad moors, firs, juni- 
per, and a hundred other shrubs, gave each moment new combinations, 
changing, as in a kaleidoscope, from beauty to beauty, till the blue sheet of 
Coniston opeued out before us, its head embosomed in trees, and guarded 
by the massive form of the far-famed Old Man. 

The view from the summit of this mountain, in my opinion, is one of the 
finest in the district. Standing, as it does, like a bastion tower on the edge 
of the group, it commands a wide extent of the higher mountains, the bolder 
peaks of the Scafell range being especially conspicuous, while our eyes 
range along the beautiful lake, seemingly almost beneath our feet, and thence 
far down the estuaries of the Kent, the Severn, and the Duddon, to the 
sands of Morecambe Bay. Far away over these may be seen, on a clear 
day, the castle of Lancaster, and even Ingleborough aud the Yorkshire 
fells ; while those who are specially favored may discern, like clouds on the 
horizon, the Isle of Man, and even the peak of Snowden. — Picturesque Europe. 

Esthwaite Lake lies between Windermere and Coniston. 
Near its northern extremity we find the old town of Hawks- 
head, where Wordsworth received his earlier education. 

The ruins of Furness Abbey lie south-west from Winder- 
mere and Coniston, and can be reached by rail from the 
southern extremity of the former lake. To the lover of 
Gothic architecture these interesting ruins afford the best of 
compensation for the time spent in their inspection. 



THE ENGLISH LAKES. 143 

Ulleswater is next in size to Windermere. A charming 
carriage drive extends from Pooley Bridge, at the northern 
extremity of the lake, along its western shore to Patterdale, 
its most southern point. Gowbarrow, a famous park, and 
Airey Force, a famous water-fall, are three miles north from 
Patterdale, on the west shore of the lake. 

Ulleswater is a beautiful lake, with steep hills walling it about — so steep 
on the eastern side that there seems hardly room for a road to run along the 
base. — Hawthorne. 

Its scenery from Patterdale to Lyulph's Tower, about half-way up on the 
left-hand shore, is not surpassed by any of the other lakes. — Shaw's Guide- 
Book. 

Ulleswater gleams in front, reflecting iu its quiet waters the surrounding 
summits. Just at the head is the pretty village of Patterdale, fairly nest- 
ling among trees, with its tiny church and old yew-tree. For a distance of 
four or five miles round this spot as a center, each step discloses some new 
beauty. The reach of waters below is by far the most beautiful part of the 
lake. The views from its shores, especially looking back toward Patterdale, 
are almost the finest iu the region. Not far away , 

" Doth Aira Force, that torrent hoarse, speak from the woody glen," 
and beyond the parks that clothe the western slopes rise the bare fells of 
Helvellyn and the lonely vale of Grisedale. — Picturesque Europe. 

Helvellyn, a noted mountain peak, lies between Ulleswater 
and Thirlmere, and is easily reached from both points. Its 
central position among the lakes and tarns, as well as its 
height, 3,118 feet above sea-level, gives this mountain a 
most picturesque view. 

Helvellyn commands an extensive map-like view of the whole lake dis- 
trict. . . . The circumjacent mountains present themselves in fine arrange- 
ment. — Black's Guide-Book. 

Ho, stern Helvellyn ! with thy savage cliffs 
And dark ravines. — Mrs. Sigourney. 

The view is impressive, and such as one likes to sit down to and drink 
in slowl_y — a li grand terraqueous spectacle, from center to circumference 
unveiled." — John Burroughs. 

The wild magnificence of the mountain groups as seen from Helvellyn is 
incomparable. — English Pictures. 



144 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

Next to the greatness of Wordsworth comes the grandeur of Helvellyn. 
The second mountain of England in height, it is the most impressive in ap- 
pearance, and one does not wonder that it was the holy hill of the first in- 
habitants of this region. — AI. D. Conway. 

I climbed the dark brow of the mighty Helvellyn, 

Lakes, mountains beneath me gleamed misty and wide ; 

All was still, save by tits, when the eagle was yelling, 
And starting around me the echoes replied. — Scott. 

The shores of Thiiimere abound in wonderful precipices 
and crags. 

Thirlmere breaks upon the sight beyond Helvellyn and mirrors a long- 
range of lofty steeps and crags — Fisher Crag, Raven Crag — so wonderful, 
we need not wonder that the lake poets made this their trysting-place. — 
M. D. Conway. 

Thirlmere ... is guarded on one side by the slopes of Helvellyn, on the 
other by the bolder crags of Armboth Fell. As might be expected, from its 
elevation, its shores are less luxuriant than those of the other lakes, and 
great domes .of ice-worn rock here and there rise above the turf. From 
neqr its lower end is a striking view down the vale of St. John's, between 
steep walls of rock, to the noble form of Blencatha. — Picturesque Europe. 

I took various walks to get a glimpse of Helvellyn, and a view of Thirl- 
mere, which is rather two lakes than one, being so narrow at one point as 
to be crossed by a foot-bridge. Its shores are very picturesque, coming down 
abruptly upon it, and broken into crags and prominences, which view their 
shaggy faces in its mirror; and Helvellyn slopes steeply upward from its 
southern shore into the clouds. — Hawthorne. 

The country round about Keswick, a town of some three 
thousand inhabitants, located on the Greta River, abounds in 
magnificent scenery. 

Southey made Keswick his home in 1804, living for forty 
years in an unpretentious mansion, still standing, called 
Greta Hall. He, with his wife, is buried in the parish church- 
yard. 

Skiddaw mountain, six miles distant, is easily reached 
from Keswick, also the famous valley of St. John. This 
valley, through which runs a river of the same name flowing 
from Thiiimere into the Greta, near the town of Threlkeld, 



THE ENGLISH LAKES. 145 

is noted for its picturesque scenery, and a rock bearing a 
striking resemblance to a fortress. This rock is described 
by Scott in liis Bridal of Triermain : 

With toil the king his way pursued, 
By lonely Threlkeld's waste and wood, 
Till on his course obliquely shone 
The narrow valley of St. John ; 
Down sloping to the western sky, 
Where lingering sunbeams love to lie. 

Right glad to feel those beams again, 
The king drew up his charger's rein : 
With gauntlet raised, he screened his sight, 
As dazzled with the level light, 
And from beneath his glove of mail 
Scanned at his ease the lovely vale ; 
While 'gainst the sun his armor bright 
Gleamed ruddy like a beacon's light. 

Paled in by many a lofty hill, 
The narrow dale lay smooth and still; 
And down its verdant bosom led, 
A winding brooklet found its bed. 
But midmost of the vale a mound 
Arose, with airy turrets crowned, 
Buttress and rampire's circling bound, 
And mighty keep and tower. — Scott. 

About half a mile from Keswick is Derwent water, one of 
the favorite lakes among tourists. The drive of ten miles 
around its margin is diversified by mountains, crags, preci- 
pices, woods, and pasture lands. Near the south-east shore 
of the lake is the celebrated water-fall of Lodore, described 
by Southey. 

Derwentwater, a magnificent oval lake set among the hills. — Joel Cook. 

The placid surface of Derwentwater, whose quiet beauty fills the soul 
with a kind of dreamy content. — Prof. John S. Lee. 

The fair lake stretching before us, and the mountains beyond, seemed to 
put me in the mood for the poetry. — EUas Yarnall. 



146 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

A beautiful aud picturesque lake. — Imperial Gazetteer. 

Derwentwater is a favorite lake with artists, and many are the pictures 
that have been painted of it and its surroundings. — P. B. Cogswell. 

Derwentwater. ... On the eastern side there are many noble eminences, 
and on the west, along which we drove, there is a part of the way a 
lonely wood, and nearly the whole distance a precipitous range of lofty 
cliffs, descending sheer down without any slope, except what has been 
formed in the lapse of ages by the fall of fragments and the washing down 
of smaller stones. . . . The whole scene, indeed, might be characterized as 
one of stern grandeur with an embroidery of rich beauty. — Hawthorne. 

Deep stillness lies upon this lovely lake, 

The air is calm, the forest trees are still ; 

The river windeth without noise, and here without voice 

The fall of fountains comes not, nor the sound 

Of the white cataract Lodore: the voice — 

The might)' mountain voice — itself is dumb. — B. W. Proctor. 

Derwentwater lies "quiet as a stone," under the mountains that rise 
near her shores, black and grand, and hardly more stonily calm. — Gilbert 
Haven. 

'Tis mine to rove 
Through bare gray dell, high wood, and pastoral cove; 
His wizard course where hoary Derwent takes, 
Through crags aud forest glooms and opening lakes, 
Staying his silent waves, to hear the roar 
That stuns the tremulous cliffs of high Lodore. — Wordsworth. 

1 stood at the window beholding 

Mountain and lake and vale ; the valley disrobed of its verdure; 

Derwent retaining yet from eve a glassy reflection, 

"Where his expanded breast, then still and smooth as a mirror, 

Under the woods reposed. — Southey. 

Derwent, . . . fair lake, . . . 
On whose green heathlands grows the fern ; 
And mountain heights of dark grey stone 
Are bright with lichens overgrown. — Mary Howitt. 

Lake Derwentwater, with its picturesque islands, with its silvery expanses, 
within an amphitheater of rocky but not high mountains, broken into fan- 
tastic shapes, heaped and splintered with little precipices, with shores 
swelling into woody eminences, is the gem of this region. — Edward King. 



THE ENGLISH LAKES. 147 

There is scarcely a spot along the shores of Dervventwater which does 
not furnish some exquisite picture. Its banks are a succession of sloping 
meadows and ferny braes, of groves of trees feathering down to the water 
with bolder crags behind, and steep, rocky slopes of mountain pasture. 
. . . Along these shores one must not hurry ; every moment some 
fresh charm bids us stay — now some foreground bit of rock and fen and 
mossy trunks of trees; now some new grouping of the wooded islands that 
stud the surface of the lake; now some new glimpse of a mountain peak 
shining through the boughs, its blue and purple tints seeming, if possible, 
more tender and aerial from contrast with the strong lights and shadows 
of the green leaves. — Picturesque Europe. 



148 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 



XI. 

ABBOTSFORD. 



Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott, is about forty 
miles south of Edinburgh. Tourists visiting this city gener- 
ally devote one day to visiting Melrose Abbey, Dryburgh 
Abbey, and Abbotsford. This is one of the pleasantest ex- 
cursions from Edinburgh, and is accomplished in one day. 

The town of Melrose is about thirty-seven miles south-east 
from Edinburgh, and is reached by rail; from Melrose a car- 
riage conveys the tourist to Dryburgh and Abbotsford, the 
former lying four miles west, and the latter three miles east, 
of Melrose. 

Melrose Abbey, now considered the most beautiful ruin in 
Scotland, was founded by King David I., in 1136. 

It was destroyed by the English in 1322 and rebuilt by 
order of Robert Bruce. 

The south and east walls, and part of the north, are still 
standing, also both transepts and part of the central tower. 
The roof is entirely demolished, except on the east end of 
the chancel. 

The south wall contains eight windows, each sixteen feet 
in height, the frame-work of which is all ornamented with 
the richest and most delicate tracery. 

Nothing could be more beautiful than the large east 
window, which is thirty-seven feet high and sixteen broad. 

The East Window, I write it in large letters, for it is an architectural 
poem, and it will live in my memory as a joy forever, it is such a thing of 
beauty. The lightness of its proportions and beauty of its tracery at once 
impress the beholder ; and all around the sides and above it are quaint and 
wonderfully-executed sculptures in the stone-work — statues, chain and 
crown ; figures on carved pedestals beneath canopies of wrought stone, 
while wreaths and sculptured flowers are artistically wrought in various 
directions. — Curtis Guild. 



ABBOTSFORD. 149 



The moon on the east oriel shone 
Through slender shafts of shapely stone, 

By foliaged tracery combined ; 
Thou would'at have thought some fairy's hand 
'Twist poplars straight the ozier wand 

In many a freakish knot had twined ; 
Then framed a spell, when the work was done, 
And changed the willow-wreaths to stone. 
The silver light, so pale and faint, 
Show'd many a prophet, and many a saint. — Scott. 

It is claimed that the heart of Robert Bruce was buried 
in this abbey directly beneath the high altar. 

The south transept contains the tomb of the famous 
Scotch wizard, Michael Scott, a character introduced by 
Dante in his Inferno, who died about 1291. A description 
of his burial is given in the "Lay of the Last Minstrel." 

In these far climes it was my lot 

To meet the wondrous Michael Scott; 

A wizard of such dreaded fame 
That when, in Salamanca's cave, 
Him hsted his magic wand to wave, 

The bells would ring in Notre Dame ! 
Some of his skill he taught to me ; 
And, Warrior. I could say to thee 
The words that cleft Eildon hills in three, 

And bridled the Tweed with a curb of stone : 
But to speak them were a deadly sin : 
And for having but thought them my heart within 

A treble penance must be done. 

When Michael lay on his dying bed, 
His conscience was awakened: 
He bethought him of his sinful deed, 
And gave me a sign to come with speed: 
I was in Spain when the morning rose, 
But I stood by his bed ere evening close. 
The words may not again be said, 
That he spoke to me, on death-bed laid ; 
They would rend this Abbaye's massy nave, 
And pile it in heaps above his grave. 



150 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TliOSAGHS. 

I swore to bury his Mighty Book, 

That never mortal might therein look; 

And never to tell where it was hid, 

Save at his Chief of Branksome's need: 

And when that need was past and o'er, 

Again the volume to restore. 

I buried him on St. Michael's night, 

When the bell toll'd one, and the moon was bright, 

And I dug his chamber among the dead 

Where the floor of the chancel was stained red, 

That his patron's cross might over him wave 

And scare the fiends from the Wizard's grave. — Scott. 

The ruins of Melrose Abbey were specially admired and 
enjoyed by Sir Walter Scott. 

Melrose Abbey, the delicate beauty of whose ruins poetry has forever 
enshrined. — S. S. Cox. 

The ivy-clad moss-lined abbey. — Mary L. Ninde. 

Melrose Abbey, a lofty, extensive ruin, retaining much of the architectural 
splendor and sculptural beauty of its time of pride. Glorious as it was to 
ns, seen under a dull sky, I could not conceive of any thing more majestic, 
more religiously beautiful, than "fair Melrose," viewed "by the pale moon- 
light." — Grace Greenwood. 

Melrose is the finest remaining specimen of Gothic architecture in Scot- 
land. Some of the sculptured flowers in the cloister arches are remarkably 
beautiful and delicate, and the two windows — the south and east oriels — are 
of a lightness and grace of execution really surprising. . . . The chancel is 
all open to the sky, and rooks build their nests among the wild ivy that 
climbs over the crumbling arches. — Bayard Taylor. 

Melrose is more to be admired for the exquisite delicacy of its architec- 
ture; the stone of which it was built retaining to this day the sharpness of 
its edges, and the leaves and flowers thus chiseled being so finished that 
the sunlight falls through behind them, as they stand out on the walls ; and 
you may pass a straw through the interstices to prove the completeness of 
the workmanship. — S, I. Prime. 

Melrose Abbey, which a few lines of Scott's poetry have invested with an 
interest greater than that of other similar ruins. — H. M. Field, D.D 

No description, not even the famous one in the " Lay of the Last Min- 
strel," can give any adequate idea of its beauty. — Satchel Guide. 

The solemn grandeurs of Melrose. Mr. Emerson once said that men 



ABBOTSFORD. 151 



required rhyme and rhythm as they do beautiful architecture. I never 
knew the full meaning of that saying until I stood amid the sad, sweet, 
dreamlike ruins of this holy place. In that solitude poetry seemed the 
only language that could be spoken. — Harper's Magazine. 

The artist in whose mind the conception of this building arose was a 
Mozart in architecture ; a plaintive and ethereal lightness, a fanciful quaint- 
ness, pervaded his composition. — Mrs. Stowe. 

The architecture of this beautiful fabric is a mixture of the Flamboyant and 
florid Gothic, somewhat the same as that exhibited in some of the conti- 
nental cathedrals. It is remarkable for the beauty and delicacy of its 
ornamental work, much of which, owing to the hardness of the stone, 
retains its original sharpness. — Black's Guide-Bouk. 

The finest specimen of Gothic architecture ever reared to the honor of 
man or the service of God in Great Britain. — S. S. Cox. 

The abbey was evidently a pile that called up all Scott's poetic and 
romantic feelings, and one to which he was enthusiastically attached by the 
most fanciful and delightful of his early associations. He spoke of it, I 
may say, with affection, — Anon. 

"There is no telling," said he, "what treasures are hid in that glorious 
old pile. It is a famous place for antiquarian plunder; there are such rich 
bits of old-time sculpture for the architect, and old-time story for the poet. 
There is as rare picking in it as in a Stilton cheese, and in the same taste — 
the moldier the better." — Irving. 

As we came into the midst of this glorious old structure we actually 
stood silent for some time, so filled were we with admiration at its won- 
drous beauty. . . . The majestic sweep of the great Gothic arches, that 
vista of beauty, a great Gothic aisle still standing, fifty feet long, and sixty 
feet from floor to key-stone, the superb columns, and the innumerable 
elegant carvings on every side, the graves of monarch, knight, and wizard 
marked with their quaint, antique inscriptions at your feet, and 
" The cloister-galleries small, 
Which at midheight thread the chancel wall," 
all form a scene of most charming and beautiful effects. — Curtis Guild. 

A very satisfactory ruin, all carpeted along its nave and transepts with 
green grass. There are remains, both within and without the abbey, 
of most curious and minute old sculpture; foliage in places where it is 
almost impossible to see them, and where the sculptor could not have 
supposed that they would be seen,»-but which are yet finished faithfully, 



152 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

to the very veins of each leaf, in stone ; and there is a continual variety of 
tliis accurate toil. On the exterior of the edifice there is equal minuteness 
of finish. — Hawthorne. 

If thou would'st view fair Melrose aright, 

Go visit it by the pale moonlight ; 

For the gay beams of lightsome day 

Gild but to flout the ruins gray. 

When the broken arches are black in night, 

And each shafted orielglimmers white; 

When the cold light's uncertain shower 

Streams on the ruin'd central tower ; 

When buttress and buttress alternately 

Seem framed of ebon and ivory ; 

When silver edges the imagery 

And the scrolls that teach thee to live and die ; 

When distant Tweed is heard to rave, 

And the owlet to hoot o'er the dead man's grave, 

Then go — but go alone the while — 

Then view St. David's ruin'd pile ; 

And, home returning, soothly swear, 

Was never scene so sad and fair I — Scott. 

Dry burgh Abbey was founded in 1150 by Hugh de 
Moreville, one of the eminent lords of Scotland at this 
period. This abbey was twice destroyed by the English. 
The ruins include a portion of the choir and monastery, " the 
western gable of the nave, the Chapter-house, and St. 
Moden's Chapel, and the ends of the transept." The beauty 
of the ruin is greatly enhanced by the luxuriant growth of 
English ivy, which covers almost every portion. 

This abbey has become one of the shrines of earth, from 
the fact that it is the burial place of Sir Walter Scott — the 
one he chose for himself. 

The tomb is on the right of the church, in what is called 
St. Mary's Aisle, and the stone which marks the last resting 
place of the much loved poet and novelist bears the simple 
inscription : 

SIR WALTER SCOTT, Baronet. 
Died September 21, A. D., 1832. 



jte%&Mfri&«.JS 




DKTBURGH ABBEY. 



ABBOTSFORD. 153 



His funeral was conducted in an unostentatious manner, but the attend- 
ance was very great. His old domestics and foresters themselves bore the 
coffin to the liearse, and from the hearse to the grave. 

The pall-bearers were his sous, his son-in-law, and his little grandson. 

The court-yard and all the precincts of Abbotsford were crowded with 
uncovered spectators as the procession was arranged ; and as it advanced 
through Darwick and Melrose, and the adjacent villages, the whole popula- 
tion appeared at their doors in like manner — almost all in black. The 
train of carriages extended, I understand, over more than a mile. 

The wide inclosure at the Abbey of Dryburgh was thronged with old 
and young ; and when the coffin was taken from the hearse, and ag;iin 
laid on the shoulders of the afflicted serving-men, one deep sob burst from a 
thousand lips. Mr. Archdeacon Williams read the burial service of the 
Church of Eogland; and thus, about half-past rive in the evening of Wed- 
nesday, the 26th of September, 1832, the remains of Sir Walter Scott were 
laid by the side of his wife in the sepulcher of his ancestors. — J. G. Lock- 
hart. 

Beneath the abbey are a number of cells, in one of which 
is an instrument of torture. 

According to a story, which claims Sir Walter Scott as 
its author, a " Nun of Dryburgh " lived in one of these 
cells, leaving it only at night, having taken a vow that she 
would never look upon the sunlight until the return of her 
lover. He never returned, and the vow was faithfully kept. 
Scott weaves this story into one of his most charming bal- 
lads, The Em of St. John. 

Dryburgh Abbey. Few monastic remains in the kingdom occupy a posi- 
tion of more peaceful seclusion than these. The chief feature of them is 
the Refectory on the south side of the cloisters. It contains a beautiful 
rose-window, which nature again has garlanded with ivy. — Baddeley's 
Guide-Book. 

Dryburgh Abbey is one of the most picturesque ruins in Scotland. . . . 
nearly every part of the church, with the exception of St. Mary's Aisle, is 
covered with living green. — Harper's Guide-Book. 

Dryburgh Abbey stands amid the most pleasant combination of water, 
hill, and woodland scenery in the South of Scotland. — Picturesque Europe. 

Passing through an apple-orchard, we were not long in reaching the 
abbey, the ruins of which are much more extensive and more picturesque 
than those of Melrose, being overrun with bushes and shrubbery, and 
11 



1-54 FROM THE THAMES TO TEE TROSACHS. 

twined about with ivy, and all such vegetation as belongs, naturally, to old 
walls. There are the remains of the Refectory, and other domestic parts of 
the abbey, as well as the church, and all in delightful state of decay — not 
so far gone but that we had bits of its former grandeur in the columns and 
broken arches, and in some portions of the edifice that still retain a roof. — 
Hawthorne. 

The abbey at Dryburgh is hid in a wood, and is approached through the 
orchard. ... Its ruins are very extensive. It has one charm which no 
other ruin possesses: a large star-window, perfectly preserved, high up in a 
wall which is entirely chid in ivy, and leaving only this gem of stone and 
sky, like a sapphire brooch clasping the glistening drapery of green invest- 
ing the ruin, all too beautiful for the corrosion of time. — S. S. Cox. 

Dryburgh Abbey, where Scott sleeps. — H. M. Field, D.D. 

They laid him to rest iu Dryburgh Abbey, and the finest minne-singer 
and story-teller of Scotland could have found no fitter tomb. Embowered 
amidst venerable trees, festooned with ivy and every climbing plant, that 
spot which the Celts named Darach-Bruach ("the bunk of the sacred 
oaks ") reminds us how both pagan and Christian loved to worship where 
nature was most beautiful. — Harper's Monthly. 

In a tender and touching passage of his simple diary, Sir Walter tells us 
'.'how he deposited the remains of the thirty years' partner of his life 
beneath the turf on which he had so often sat with her in the sunshine, in 
the days of happiness and prosperity." Here, too, his own dust was laid, 
in the very center of all the glories of his chivalrous genius, with nothing 
but a plain slab raised over him — the slab that covers the Scottish Shake- 
speare. . . . And when we stand by that remarkable tomb amid the solitude 
that nothing breaks but the rustle of the ivy on the ruined arches, or the 
caw of the rook, it is impossible not to feel as if the spirit of the great 
minstrel, the glory and the honor of his native hind, was still hovering 
there. — Picturesque Europe. 

There is a part of the ruin that stands most picturesquely by itself, as if 
old Time had intended it for a monument. It is the ruin of that part of the 
chapel called St. Mary's Aisle ; it stands surrounded by luxuriant thickets 
of pine and other trees, a cluster of beautiful Gothic arches supporting a 
second tier of smaller and more fanciful ones, one or two of winch have 
that light touch of the Moorish in their form which gives such a singular 
and poetic effect in many of the old Gothic ruins. Out of these wild arches 
and windows wave wreaths of ivy, and slender harebells shake their blue 
pendants, looking in and out of the lattices like little capricious fairies. 
There are fragments of ruins lying on the ground, and the whole air of the 



ABBOTSFORD. 155 



tiling is as wild and dreamlike and picturesque as the poet's fanciful heart 
could have desired. Underneath these arches he lies beside his wife ; 
around him the representation of the two things he loved most — the wild 
bloom and beauty of nature, and the architectural memorial of by-gone 
history and arc. — Mrs. Stowe. 

The property of Abbotsford was purchased by Scott in 
1811, of an old friend, Rev. Dr. Robert Douglas, minister of 
Galashiels. 

Its condition at that time is thus described by the distin- 
guished biographer and son-in-law of Sir Walter, John 
Gibson Lockhart : 

The farm consisted of a rich meadow, or haugh, along the banks of the 
river, and about a hundred acres of undulated ground behind, all in a neg- 
lected state, undrained, wretchedly inclosed, much of it covered with 
nothing better than the native heath. The farm-house itself was small and 
poor, with a common kail-yard on one flank, and a staring barn of the 
doctor's erection on the other ; while in front appeared a filthy pond, cov- 
ered with ducks and duckweed, from which the whole tenement derived 
the unharmonious designation of Clarty Hole. But the Tweed was every 
thing to Scott — a beautiful river flowing broad and bright over a bed of 
milk-white pebbles, unless here and there where it darkened into a deep 
pool, overhung as yet only by the birches and alders which had survived 
the statelier growth of the primitive forest ; and the first hour that he took 
possession he claimed for his farm the name of the adjoiuing ford, situated 
just above the influx of the classical tributary Gala. As might be guessed 
from the name of Abbotsford, these lands had. all belonged of old to the 
great Abbey of Melrose. . . . 

Another feature of no small interest in Scott's eyes was an ancient 
Roman road leading from the Eildon hills to this ford. . . . The most grace- 
ful and picturesque of all the monastic ruins in Scotland, the Abbey of 
Melrose itself, is visible from many points in the immediate neighborhood 
of the house ; and last, not least, on the rising ground full in view across 
the river, the traveler may still observe the chief traces of that ancient 
British barrier, the Catrail, of which the reader has seen frequent mention 
in Scott's early letters to Ellis, when investigating the antiquities of Reged 
and Strathclyde. 

Such was the territory on which Scott's prophetic eye already beheld 
rich pastures, embosomed among flourishing groves, where his children'9 
children should thank the founder. 



156 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

During the year 1826, owing to the failure of his pub- 
lisher and printer, Archibald Constable and James Ballan- 
tyne, both of Edinburgh, Scott became involved in debt 
for the sum of £150,000, or $750,000, and his estate was 
held for the amount. He determined to pay the indebted- 
ness with his pen, although he was then fifty-five years old. 
At the time of his death, which occurred six years after the 
failure, he had paid nearly two thirds of the money, and 
satisfactory arrangement was soon after made for the pay- 
ment of the remainder. 

Scott died at Abbotsford, September 21, 1832. 

His only surviving son, Walter, became the possessor of this 
property, which, after his death, in 1847, passed into the 
hands of John G. Lockhart. 

Lockhart married Scott's eldest daughter in 1820, and died 
at Abbotsford in 1854. 

The property is now owned by Lockhart 1 s daughter, the 
wife of James R. Hope Scott, Esq. 

In 1817 Washington Irving visited Scott in his home at 
Abbotsford. The following extract is taken from a letter 
written by him to his brother, Peter Irving: 

On Saturday morning; early I took chaise for Melrose, and on the way 
stopped at the gate of Abbotsford. and sent in my letter of introduction, with a 
request to know whether it would be agreeable tor Mr. Scott to receive a visit 
from me in the course of the day. The glorious old minstrel himself came 
limping to the gate, and took me by the hand in a way that made me feel 
as if we were old friends. Tn a moment I was seated at his hospitable board 
among his charming little family, and here I have been ever since. ... I 
cannot tell you how truly I have enjoyed the hours I have passed here. 
They fly by too quick, yet each loaded with story, incident, or song ; and 
when I consider the world of ideas, images, and impressions that have been 
crowded upon my mind since I have been here, it seems incredible that I 
should have been only two days at Abbotsford. ... 1 left Abbotsford on 
Wednesday morning and never left a place with more regret. The few 
days I passed there were among the most delightful of my life, and worth 
as many years of ordinary existence. We made a charming excursion to 
Dryburgh Abbey. ... I was with Scott from morning to night; ram- 



ABBOTS FORD. 157 



bling about the hills and streams, every one of which would bring to his 
mind some old tale or picturesque remark. 

Irving also speaks of the beautiful home-life of Scott 
with his charming family, which consisted of his wife and 
four children, two sons and two daughters. " It is," he 
writes, " a perfect picture to see Scott and his household 
assembled of an evening : the dogs stretched before the 
fire, the cat perched on a chair, Mrs. Scott and the girls 
sewing, and Scott reading out of some old romance or tell- 
ing border stories." 

This picture of home-lite greatly enhances the interest of 
a visit to Abbotsford, for it is the privilege of all tourists to 
walk through the very rooms where this happy life was lived. 

Abbotsford is visited annually by thousands of people of every national- 
ity. — Library of Universal Knowledge. 

That singularly picturesque and irregular pile, which has been aptly char- 
acterized as a romance in stone and lime. — American Encyclopaedia. 

The fantastic groups of chimneys, gables, projecting windows, turrets and 
balconies are combined in a manner which it would be impossible to reduce 
to order, method, or consecutiveness; but the general effect is at once pleas- 
ing and surprising. Almost every celebrated antiquarian building through- 
out Scotland has contributed something to Abbotsford. — Official Tourist's 
Guide. 

Of world-wide renown is this mansion; not that its position or beauty 
is much to be admired, but the name of the genius that once inhabited it 
is fresh in the memory of every individual who speaks the English language, 
and must remain so for ages. — Harper's Guide-Book. 

The house of Sir Walter Scott is a building of many gables and towers, 
situated on the south bank of the Tweed, which flows by in a broad, easy- 
going stream. — Baddeley's Guide-Book. 

Abbotsford, the splendid baronial residence of Sir Walter Scott, with 
many interesting memorials remaining of that great poet and romancer. — 
MorforoVs Guide-Book. 

Abbotsford. Sir Walter Scott's home on the Tweed, celebrated for its pict- 
uresque architecture and the beauty of its surroundings. — People's Cyclo- 
pedia. 

As to the external appearance of Abbotsford, it is as irregular as can well 
be imagined. There are gables and pinnacles and spires and balconies 



108 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TEOSACHS. 

and buttresses anywhere and every-where without rhyme or reason ; for 
wherever the poet wanted a balcony, he had it; or whenever he had a frag- 
ment of carved stone, or a bit of historic tracery to put in, he made a shrine 
for it forthwith, without asking leave of any rules. — Mrs. H. B. Stowe. 

Before this edifice, which has been termed a romance in stone and lime, 
was built, and all around it made the fairy scene we find it now, the site 
was occupied by a humble farnistead called Clarty Hole. On becoming 
proprietor, Sir Walter changed the name to Abbotsford, and reared, by slow 
degrees, the present picturesque mansion, with all its turrets, towers, and 
pinnacles, and laid and planted the surrounding grounds with singularly 
good effect. . . . Every personal relic of Sir Walter, even to his card-case, 
is preserved here; and though the master-spirit has departed, his memory 
will long continue to cast a halo of consecration about Abbotsford. The 
chair and bed lie last occupied, and the room in which he died, are all un- 
changed since that solemn '21st of September which Lockhart has described 
to us. — Picturesque Europe. 

The celebrated seat, for so many years, of the great master magician, Sir 
Walter Scott. — Rev. J. E. Edwards. 

Abbotsford, the repository of the antiquary's curiosities, and the home of 
the author of Waverly. — S. S. Cox. 

It impressed me, not as a real house, intended for the home of human 
beings . . . but as a plaything, something iu the same category as Horace 
Walpole's Strawberry Hill. — Hawthorne. 

Abbotsford owes its name, like all its attractions, to the great Sir Walter. 
— Picturesque Europe. 

Besides being of interest as the residence of Scott, it is a perfect museum 
of curiosities and relics identified with Scottish history. — Curtis Guild. 

It is a fit winding up to the tour of Scotland, that commonly the traveler's 
last visit, as he comes down to England, is to Abbotsford, the home of 
Walter Scott.—//. M. Field, D.D. 

That shrine in the land of Scott to which the greatest number and variety 
of pilgrims resort is his celebrated residence, Abbotsford. — J. F. Hunnewell. 

The visitor cannot choose but look with interest on Abbotsford as the 
poet's chosen home — a noble residence and beautiful for situation. — S. G. 
Green, D.D. 

Abbotsford ! It is the photograph of Sir Walter Scott. It is brimful of 
him and his histories. — Elihu Burr lit. 

The shrine of that rare genius which has achieved for itself an earthly 
immortality. — Henry Caiman. 



ABBOTSFORD. 159 



The turreted and picturesque mansion of Abbotsford. ... It is the very- 
earthly paradise of a poet and a great mind. — Benjamin Moron. 

Brief was our half-liour at Abbotsford, but it was enough to write the spot 
indelibly upon memory's tablets. — T. W. Silloway and L. L. rowers. 

It must be true that pure, unaided literary labor never built before a 
mansion of this magnitude and filled it with such treasures of art and his- 
tory. — Ellhu Bun ilt. 

The walls of the structure rise up before us in all their confused beauty, 
a singular combination of Gothic and castellated architecture, deficient in 
harmony of proportions, yet poetical in its unstudied arrangements. — Prof. J. 
S. Lee. 

It was like one of Scott's romances, full of odds and ends of Scottish 
antiquity, cleverly put together. — Horace E. Scud.der. 

Embosomed in shades, it presents an irregular assemblage of turret, para- 
pet, and balcony. — Mrs. Sigourney. 

Abbotsford, with its quaint architecture and beautiful accompauiment of 
garden and woodland. — Anon. 

A fine, lordly mansion, surrounded by a beautiful country. — Mrs. P. L. 

Collins. 

Language can hardly portray our thoughts as we lingered in these rooms 
fo familiar to the great novelist whom we all admire. When we saw the 
books he read, the place where he studied and wrote, the mementos and 
weapons which he seemed to weave into his wonderful stories, it seemed as 
if we had been into the workshop of Vulcan and seen the material of which 
Jove's thunderbolts were forged. — O.R. Bwchard, A.M. 

To other people the place must have seemed tame, and bleak, and unin- 
viting enough, until Sir Walter set his splendid house there, and made it one 
of the shrines of the world for all English-speaking pilgrims of the future. 
— Louise C. Moulton- 

The impress of the poet's hand is left on all around — in the arrangement 
and adornment of the house, and in the tasteful and romantic surroundings. 
— L. L. Holden. 

Abbotsford. after his own immortal works, is the best monument of its 
founder. — J. G. Lockhart. 

The building has this interest, that it was throughout Scott's own concep- 
tion, thought, and choice; that he expressed himself in every stone that was 
laid, and made it a kind of shrine, into which he wove all his treasures oi 
antiquity, and where he imitated, from the beautiful, old, mouldering ruins 
of Scotland, the parts that had touched him most deeply. — Mrs. Stoiue. 



160 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TliOSACHS. 

Though I lmd read a hundred descriptions, every thing seemed new as I 
went over this epitome of the mind and life of Scott! — Margaret Fuller 
Ossoli. 

Sir Walter once said he would make Abbotsford a poem in stone and 
mortar, and right well did he succeed. It is as beautiful as a fairy palace 
and as grand as an old feudal castle, and history and romance are literally 
woven into its walls. — Mrs. P. L. Collins. 

It really has much the air of some old fastness hard by the river Jordan. 
— Ferguson. 

To Scott, doubtless, every object in the house was suggestive of poetic 
fancies ; every carving and bit of tracery had its history, and was as truly 
an expression of something in the poetic mind as a verse of his poetry. 
A building wrought out in this way, and growing up like a bank of coral, 
may very possibly violate all the proprieties of criticism ; it may possibly, 
too, violate one's ideas of mere housewifely utility; but b} r none of these 
rules ought such a building to be judged. We should look at it rather as 
the poet's endeavor to render outward and visible the dreamland of his 
thoughts, and to create for bimself a refuge from the cold, dull realities of 
life, in an architectural romance. — Mrs. H. B. Stowe. 

The silence about the place is solemn and breathless, as if it waited to be 
broken by his returning footsteps. I felt an awe in treading these lonely 
halls like that which impressed me before the grave of Washington — a 
feeling that hallowed the spot, as if there yet lingered a low vibration of 
the lyre though the minstrel had departed forever! — Bayard Taylor. 

Abbotsford is now, far more than when he who built it so described it, 
a " romance in stone and lime ; " for he had gradually added to it memorials 
of that old Scotland which never passed away so long as he lived, and 
hallowed all by the bequest of his own spiritual presence. — Harper's Maga- 
zine. 

A curious pile — an odd, yet not inharmonious assemblage of architectural 
ideas, half-religious, half-feudal, simple, yet stately — the charming conceits 
and bold fancies of poetry, and the spirit of olden romance, revealed in 
towers and turrets, arches and windows, gables and chimney-tops. — Grace 
Greemvood. 

Viewed as a mere speculation, or, for aught I know, as an architectural 
effort, this building may, perhaps, be counted as a mistake and a failure. 
I observe that it is quite customary to speak of it among some as a pity that 
he ever undertook it. But viewed as a development of his inner life, as a 
working out in wood and stone of favorite fancies and cherished ideas, the 
building has to me a deep interest. The gentle-hearted poet delighted him- 



ABBOTSFORD. 161 



self in it ; this home was his stone-and-wood poem, as irregular, perhaps, 
and as contrary to any established rule as his Lay of the Last Minstrel, but 
still wild and poetic. — Mrs. Stowe. 

No author's pen ever gave such an individuality to a human home. It is 
all the coinage of thoughts that have flooded the hemisphere. — Elihu Burritt. 

Abbotsford has become a monument of Scott's honest integrity, of his 
true nineteenth-century chivalry of character. — J. F. Hunnewell. 

And Abbotsford ! no other name 
Could thrill me with a gentler flame. 
"Where o'er its milk-white pebbles speed, 
The glimmering ripples of the Tweed. — Scott. 

The Abbotsford mansion, every-where known as the " air 
castle " which Sir Walter Scott " reduced to stone and 
mortar," stands on the south side of the river Tweed. It 
was completed ready for use in 1824. 

On all sides, except toward the river, the house connects itself with the 
gardens. . . . The building is such a one, I dare say, as nobody but Scott 
would ever dream of erecting. . . . Yet, it is evidently imposing in its 
general effect, and in most of its details not only full of historical interest, 
but beauty also. It is, no doubt, a thing of shreds and patches, but they 
have been combined by a masterly hand. . . . The house is more than one 
hundred and fifty feet long in front, as I paced it; was built at two different 
onsets ; has a tall tower at either end, the one not the least like the other ; 
presents sundry crow-footed, alias zigzagged, gables to the eye; a myriad of 
indentations and parapets and machicolated eaves; most fantastic water- 
spouts ; labeled windows, not a few of them painted glass ; groups of right 
Elizabethan chimneys; balconies of divers fashions, greater and lesser; 
stones carved with heraldries innumerable, let in here and there in the wall. 
— Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott. 

The general impression of the location of Abbotsford is 
one of seclusion and general repose. 

The scenery is in unison with Scott's writings ; softly swelling hills, fields, 
and copses variously divided, a gently flowing stream, a harmonious com- 
bination of many diverse parts. — F. Von Raumer. 

The view to the Tweed from all the principal apartments is beautiful. 
You look out from among bowers over a lawn of sweet turf upon the 
clearest of all streams, fringed with the wildest of birch woods, and backed 
with the green hills of Ettrick Forest. — Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott. 



162 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

"What an interest there is in the trees of Abbotsford — planted every one 
by the same hand that waved its wand of enchantment over the world. One 
walks among them as if they had thoughts and memories. — N. P. Willis. 

A guide is always in attendance at Abbotsford to take 
tourists through the rooms of the mansion which the present 
owners so kindly throw open to the public. 

The Entrance Hall might properly be called an old 
curiosity shop. 

It is paneled in oak taken from the palace of Dunfermline, and the ro< f 
with the same. All along the cornice of this hall are the coats-of-arms of 
the different clans of the border, painted in colors on small armorial shields, 
an inscription stating, "These be the coat armories of the claims and chief 
men of name wha keepit the marchys of Scotland in the auld tyme for the 
Kynge. Trewe men war they in their tyme, and in their defense God them 
defendyt." 

Here are, also, three or four complete suits of tilting armor, set up and 
looking as though still occupied b}' the stern warriors who once owned 
them. . . . Here, also, were stout old lochaber-axes, English steel maces, 
battle-axes, and other weapons, many with histories, and from the bloody 
fields whose horrors are a prominent feature on the pages of history. — Curtis 
Guild. 

The Armory, which communicates with the drawing-room, 
dining-room, and Entrance Hall, is full of curious relics. 
The walls are hung with guns, pistols, daggers, battle-axes, 
cutlasses, darts, arrows, and other weapons of war. 

Many of these implements have a history, for here are 
pistols once owned and used by Bonaparte, Claverhouse, and 
General Monk; a gun belonging to Rob Roy, marked with 
the initials " R. M. G." 

The room also contains many relics belonging to distin- 
guished people, such as a hunting- flask used by James I., a 
sword which Charles I. presented to Montrose, and spurs 
•worn !>y Cromwell. 

Every room contains something which carries one back 
into the realm of history. 

The portal and keys of the old Tolbooth, at Edinburgh, 
which immediately suggest the strikingly different lives of 



ABBOTSFOUB. 103 



J canine and Effie Deans; the charity-box and seal belonging 
to Mary Queen of Scots; Rob Roy's purse; also one em- 
broidered by Flora MacDonald, whose life is so intimately 
connected with that of the Pretender; and still another made 
by the Scottish poetess, Joanna Baillie, a contemporary of 
Scott ; a snuff-box used by George IV., and a tumbler by 
Robert Burns ; thumb-screws and other articles of torture; 
the keys of Selkirk Jail ; swords, battle-axes and different 
weapons used at Culloden and Bannockburn, Bothwell Bridge, 
and other noted battle fields : a piece of Robert Bruce's 
coffin; the last suit of clothes worn by Scott; and many 
mementos, the gift of literary friends ; so at almost every 
step we find some new object once used or enjoyed by the 
famous owner, who, after purchasing Abbotsford, made it 
the embodiment of his own ideas and taste. 

The walls of the Drawing-room and Dining-room are 
adorned with a large collection of paintings. 

The drawing-room contains an admirable collection of portraits. Above 
the mantel is that of Sir Walter himself, with one of his ever-faithful dogs 
near him. On one side of this hangs the portrait of his mother, and on the 
other that of Lady Scott, and near it that of his warm friend, the Duchess of 
Buccleugh. The ovai frame above the door contains the portrait of Lady 
Hope Scott, the great-granddaughter and only surviving descendant of Sir 
Walter, and the present owner of Abbott-ford. . . . Besides these, there is a 
collection of views in water-colors, eight in number, by the celebrated En- 
glish painter, Turner, presented by the artist himself. And, not the least in 
importance, a souvenir of that most unfortunate woman, Mary Queen of 
Scots — a head painted the day after her execution by one Amias Cawood ; 
ghastly, repulsive, robbed of all its grace and loveliness. It is said to have 
been sent to Sir Walter by a Prussian nobleman in whose family it had been 
for more than two hundred years. — Mrs. P. L. Collins. 

The death of Sir Walter occurred in the dining-room. 

About half past one P. M., on the 21st of September, Sir Walter breathed 
his last, in the presence of all his children. It was a beautiful day — so 
warm that every window was wide open — and so perfectly still that the 
sound of all others most delicious to his ear, the gentle ripple of the Tweed 
over its pebbles, was distinctly audible as we knelt around the bed, and 
his eldest son kissed and closed his eyes. — Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott 



104 FROM THE THAMES TO THE T ROSA CHS. 

The Library and Study adjoining remain very nearly the 
same as when last used by Scott. 

The Library is a large room, fifty feet long and thirty 
wide, facing the river. 

The roof is of carved oak again — a very rich pattern — chiefly a la Roslin; 
and the book-cases, which are also of richly carved oak, reach high up the 
walls all round. The collection amounts, in this room, to some fifteen or 
twenty thousand volumes, arranged according to their subjects. . . . The 
only picture is Sir Walter's eldest son, in hussar uniform, and holding his 
horse — by Allan, of Edinburgh — a noble portrait, over the fire-place; and 
the only bust is that of Shakespeare, from the Avon monument, in a small 
niche in the center of the east side. — Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott. 

The Study adjoins the Library, and is a much smaller 
room. 

It contains the writing-desk and chair used by Scott in bis 
literary labors. This room has been called " the sanctum of 
the author." 

A small room opens from the library, which was Scott's own private study. 
His writing-table stood in the center, with his inkstand on it, and before it 
a large, plain, black leather arm-chair. . . . Around the sides of this room 
there was a gallery of light tracery work; a flight of stairs led up to it, and 
in one corner of it was a door which the woman said led to the poet's bed- 
room. One seemed to see in all this arrangement how snug and cosy and 
comfortable the poet had thus ensconced himself, to give himself up to his 
beloved labors and his poetic dreams. — Mrs. Stoive. 

We passed into the Stud}-, a small room lined with the books which Sir 
Walter, no doubt, was most frequently accustomed to refer to. ... A study 
table occupied the center of the room, and at one end of the table stands an 
easy-chair, with ample space to fling one's self back. The servant told me 
that I might sit clown in this chair, for that Sir Walter sat there while writ- 
ing his romances, "and perhaps," quoth the man, smiling, " 3'ou may catch 
some inspiration." What a bitter word this would have been if he had 
known me to be a romance writer! "No, I never shall be inspired to write 
romances! " I answered, as if such an idea had never occurred to me. I 
sat down, however. This study quite satisfied me, being planned on princi- 
ples of common sense and made to work in, and without any fantastic adap- 
tation of old forms to modern uses. — Hawthorne. 

1 know no brighter picture in the history of genius than this of Sir Walter 
Scott sitting down to his morning task dressed in the green velvet shooting- 



ABBOTSFORD. 165 



jacket of a Scotch laird, with his books and papers about him on the desk 
and on the floor, his favorite hound eying him from the rug, a couple of 
spaniels gamboling with his children in the garden, and the songs of the 
birds pouring in through his half-open window. Scott knew nothing of 
those feelings of irritation that make composition a torment to so many 
men. His study was always open to his children no less than to his grey- 
hound. He never considered their tattle as any disturbance ; they went and 
came as pleased their fanc} r . He was always ready to answer their questions; 
and when they, unconscious how he was engaged, entreated him to lay 
down his pen and tell them a story, he would take them on his knee, repeat 
a ballad or a legend, kiss them, and set them down again to their marbles or 
niue-pins, and resume his labor as if refreshed by the interruption. — Cham- 
bers's Journal. 

Home of the gifted! fare thee well, 

And a blessing on thee rest ; 
While the heather waves its purple bell 

O'er moor and mountain crest, 
While stream to stream around thee calls, 

And braes witli broom are drest, 
Glad be the harping in thy halls — 

A blessing on thee rest. 

While the high voice from thee sent forth 

Bids rocks and cairns reply, 
Wakening the spirits of the North 

Like a chieftain's gathering cry; 
While its deep master-tones hold sway 

As a king o'er every breast — 
Home of the Legend and the Lay, 

A blessing on thee rest 1 

Joy to thy hearth, and board, and bower, 

Long honors to thy line, 
And hearts of proof, and hands of power, 

And bright names worthy thine 1 
By the merry step of childhood still 

May the free sward be prest ! 
While one proud pulse in the land can thrill, 

A blessing on thee rest I 

— Mrs. Remans. 



166 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

XII. 

EDINBURGH. 



Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, is on the south- 
eastern coast of that country, about two miles from the 
Firth of Forth. It has a population of about 250,000. 

The city is built mainly on three parallel ridges, the cen- 
tral of which terminates at its west end in the Castle, at its 
east, in the Holy rood Palace. Salisbury Crags, and the 
mountain called King Arthur's Seat, lie south of Holy rood. 
Directly opposite, on the other side of the ravine, is a rocky 
eminence, called Calton Hill, which forms the eastern 
limit of the new town. 

A deep ravine divides the city into two pnrts, kno m as 
the old and the new town. The latter is bright and attract- 
ive, with its broad streets, Grecian architecture, numerous 
handsome squares and public buildings. The old town has 
narrow streets and lanes, lined with dingy tumble-down ap- 
pearing tenement houses, yet almost every inch of ground 
teems with reminiscences and memories of an historic past. 

The old Edinburgh. Imagine a city rising out of a deep ravine and strag- 
gling up the sides of a steep hill for a mile I And that hill, cut into by all 
sorts of ravines, built over as closely as brick, stone, and wood can be 
placed, all hundreds of years old, and all precisely to-day as they were when 
they were built ! This is something like. You don't need to cross the At- 
lantic to see comfortable three-story houses with basements, but it is some- 
thing to see old Edinburgh, even if you do prefer houses with gas, water, 
baths, and modern conveniences, to live in. — D. R. Locke. 

The old town of Edinburgh rose with a thousand points of fire into the 
clear sky of a summer night. The tall houses, with their eight or nine stories, 
had their innumerable windows ablaze and the points of orange light shone 
in the still blue shadow until they seemed to form a part of some splendid 
and enchanted palace built on the slopes of a lofty hill. And then beyond 
that we could see the great crags of the Castle looming dark in the star- 
light, and we knew, rather than saw, that there were walls and turrets up 



EDINBURGH. 167 



there, cold and distant, looking down on the yellow glare of the city be- 
neath. What was Cologne and the colored lamps of its steamers, as you see 
them cross the yellow waters of the Rhine, when a full moon shines over 
the houses of Dentz; or what was Prague, with its countless spires piercing 
the starlight and its great bridge crossing over the wooded heights of the 
Stradschin, compared to this magnificent spectacle in the noblest city in the 
world ! — William Black. 

I went down into the valley between the old town and the new, which is 
now laid out as an ornamental garden with grass, shrubbery, flowers, grav- 
eled walks, and frequent seats. Here the sun was setting and gilded the 
old town with its parting rays, making it absolutely the most picturesque 
scene possible to be seen. The mass of tall, ancient houses, heaped densely 
together, looked like a Gothic dream; for there seemed to be towers and all 
sorts of stately architecture and spires ascending out of the mass; and 
above the whole was the Castle, with a diadem of gold on its topmost turret- 
— Hawthorne. 

Beyond the valley, with its bridges, and the straight bank of the Earthen 
Mound, with its white Grecian edifices, rise, rugged, gray, and dark, the 
wondrous ridge of the ancient city, and the Castle on its rock looming dark 
and vast, and over both hover the august traditions of an old and warlike 
kingdom. High over the ridgy steep rises St. Giles's airy crown, from 
where in all its grim and picturesque beauty the old city looks down upon 
the new. " Two times are brought face to face," says a writer, " and yet 
are separated by a thousand years." Wonderful on winter nights, when the 
gully is filled with darkness, and out of it rises, against the somber blue and 
the frosty stars, that mass of bulwark and gloom pierced and quivering with 
innumerable lights — a city rises up before you, painted by fire on night. 
High in air a bridge of lights leaps the chasm ; a few emerald lamps, like 
glow-worms, are twinkling about in the railway station below; a solitary 
crimson one is there. That ridged and chimneyed bulk of blackness, with 
splendor bursting out at every pore, is the wonderful old town, the center of 
Scottish history. — Picturesque Europe. 

Princes Street is the principal thoroughfare of the new 
town, and is called one of the finest streets in Great Britain. 

What a poem is that Princes Street. — Alexander Smith. 

The view, seen from Princes Street, reminds one very much of the pictures 
of Athens restored, with its beautiful public buildings of Grecian archi- 
tecture. — Curtis Guild. 

It is considered one of the most picturesque streets in the world. — 
Hezckiah Butterworth. 



168 FROM TIIE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

The principal thoroughfare of the old town is High Street, 
which extends from the Castle to Holyrood Palace. Al- 
though one continuous street, it has five divisions, called, 
Castle Hill, Lawn Market, High Street, Netherbow, and 
Canongate. Formerly the aristocracy lived on Castle Hill. 
David Hume, the historian, and James Boswell, the biog- 
rapher of Samuel Johnson, both lived, and wrote part of 
their most famous works, in houses on Lawn Market ; in a 
house still standing on Netherbow John Knox resided for 
years, during which time he wrote his Historie of the Ref- 
ormation of Religion within the realm of Scotland, and 
here he died November 24, 15 72 ; the Moray House, occu- 
pied by Cromwell before and after the battle of Dunbar 
(September 3, 1650), is still standing on Canongate, and 
directly opposite is the old Canongate Court-house. 

Whenever Scott's landau went up the Canongate, his coachman knew, 
without special instruction, that the pace must be a walk; and no funeral, 
says Lockart, ever moved more slowly, for wherever the great enthusiast 
mi<2:ht turn his gaze, there was recalled to his mind some tradition of blood 
and mystery at which his eye would sparkle and his cheek glow. — Alfred S. 
Gibbs. 

The old White Horse Inn, the head-quarters of the Pre- 
tender's Party in 1 745, stands in a narrow street, or close, 
leading from the lower end of Canongate. 

The earliest history of Edinburgh is somewhat obscure. 

Good authorities claim that the Castle was constructed 
first, about which a town, consisting chiefly of mud and 
fagot hovels, was gradually built. 

The occasional trace of ancient art and roads has led to 
the supposition that this site was once occupied by the 
Romans. 

Near the commencement of the seventh century, Edwin, 
King of Northumbria, the extreme northern county of En- 
gland, invaded the Scottish territory, gained possession of 
this town, made it his residence, and changed its name, Dun- 



EDINBURGH. 1(39 



edin, to Edwinsburgh. From this last title the present name 
of* the city is derived. 

For a long series of years Edinburgh occupied the position 
of an exposed frontier town. 

During the eleventh century its territorial authority was 
transferred from Northumbria to the kings of Scotland. 

In the fifteenth century Edinburgh became the capital city 
of Scotland, and the adopted residence of the Stuart kings. 

Special privileges and charters were granted the city by 
James II., III., and VI. 

After becoming the favorite home of ihe Stuart sov- 
ereigns the town increased rapidly in size and importance. 
" It shared in their triumphs, and bore the chief brunt in 
their repeated disasters ; and, even after the forfeiture of the 
crown, some of its most picturesque associations are with 
Stuart claimants for the throne of their ancestors." 

From the commencement of the eighteenth century to the 
present time the growth of Edinburgh has been continuous. 

From its earliest history the city has been closely identi- 
fied with its national literature, and it has been the home of 
many of the most distinguished literary men. 

Stately Edinburgh, throned on crags. — Wordsworth. 

The heart of Scotland, Britain's other eye. — Ben Jonson. 

Edinburgh, 'tis a giant's dream. — Haydon. 

Dunedin — darling of the north, 

Whose castle guards the winding Forth. 

— Wallace Bruce. 
Edinburgh is the most picturesque city in Europe. — Henry M. Field, D.D. 
An old city, rich in contrasts. — H. Taine. 
It is an odd place, E;iiuboro'. — N. P. Willis. 

Edinburgh, one of the few really beautiful cities of the world. — 
W. Chambers Lefroy. 
This magnificent and picturesque metropolis of Scotland. — John B. Gough. 
This noble and beautiful city. — J. F. Hunnewell. 

Edinburgh is called the " Modern Athens" and is a wonderful old city. — 
Rapid Transit Abroad. 
12 



170 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

It is hardly possible for a city to be prettier than Edinburgh. — Sarah B. 

Wisler. 

A city that has ever-increasing charms. — Dr. G. Draper. 

Edinburgh, that city of high houses and terraced hills; of grandly pict- 
uresque beauty ; of the times of Bruce, and the bright and dark days of 
the Stuarts; where one is surrounded by the relics of a thousand years, and 
stands under the protecting shadow of a Castle that seems lifted into the 
regions of air. — Hezekiah Butterworth. 

Edinburgh, for its size, is one of the most imposing, interesting, and mag- 
nificent cities in Europe. — Harper's Guide- Buuk. 

It is built upon several eminences, and, from its resemblance to the an- 
cient capital of Greece, has been styled, " The Modern Athens." — Black's 
Guide-Book. 

One of the most beautiful towns in Europe in location and buildings, and 
one of the most interesting in the historical, romantic, and poetical associa- 
tions with which it is studded. — Morford's Guide-Book. 

Approached from any quarter, it never fails to strike a stranger with im- 
pressions of a character altogether novel ; while the heights within and 
around, as well as the streets and valleys, by night as by day, present as- 
pects which startle, now by their beauty, now by their still sublimity, and 
now by their rich variety and range of scene. — lioyal Hotel Guide. 

Edinburgh is a city of contrasts bold and striking. — Baddeley's Guide- 
Book. 

Edinburgh is the place of residence of considerable numbers of the Scot- 
tish landed gentry, and its society is regarded as unusually polished from 
the predominance of the professional and literary elements in its composi- 
tion. — Chambers's Encyclopaedia. 

The appearance of the city and surrounding landscape is exceedingly pict- 
uresque; viewed from whatever point, whether from the ramparts of the 
Castle overlooking the new town, from the crags on Calton Hill, or from the 
lower parts of the city looking up at the heights, the scene is equally 
striking. — American Encyclopaedia. 

The site of Edinburgh is altogether remarkable as that of a large city, and 
is the chief source of its peculiar characteristics. — Encyclopozdia Britannica. 

It is hardly possible to imagine a nobler site for a town than that of 
Edinburgh, and it is built as nobly. — Bryant. 

I knew this was a city of. noble and beautiful structures, but the reality 
surpassed my expectations. — Horace Greeley. 



EDINBURGH. 171 



Edinburgh might dispute willi Bath the palm of grandeur, as it does that 
of extent and of singularly beautiful scenery marked by contrast. — A. B. 
Granville, D.D. 

We spent two days in Edinburgh, never ceasing to admire its architect- 
ural elegance, both in church and mansion, in Castle and monument. — S. S. 
Cox. 

Edinburgh in panoramic splendor is not surpassed by any city in Europe. 
— Nicholas Murray. 

Edinburgh is an imposing, picturesque, antique, magnificent, and interest- 
ing city. — S. I. Prime. 

The first sight of Edinburgh is something never to be forgotten. — S. G. 
Green, D.D. 

There can be no other city in the world that affords more splendid 
sceneiy, both natural and architectural, than Edinburgh. — Hawthorne. 

Edinburgh, besides being a city the features of which seem to come upon 
a traveler in a familiar way, is one where expectation, unless it have been 
altogether too extravagant, is outrun by the reality. — Asa MacFarland. 

In another hour we were walking through Edinburgh, admiring its palace- 
like edifices, and stopping every few minutes to gaze up at some lofty mon- 
ument. — Bayard Taylor. 

Beautiful for situation, and rich in noble and historic buildings. — H. G. 
Reid. 

Edinburgh seems more than other cities to fasten on the imagination. — 
Mrs. Sigourney. 

The beautiful and stately aspect of this city has been the theme of admi- 
ration so general that I can only echo it. — Margaret Fuller Ossoli. 

I must say, high as my expectations had been raised, the city of Edinburgh 
far surpassed all expectation. — Dorothy Wordsworth. 

Edinburgh has a weird, unreal look, like a city in cloudland or dreamland. 
— Andrew P. Peabody. 

It is a divine pleasure to admire, and there are but few cities in Europe 
where the faculties of admiration can be so cultivated as in the grand old 
capital of Scotland. — Bulwer. 

Here I am in this beautiful Auld Reekie once more. ... I have a beau- 
tiful view from my room window — masses of wood, distant hills, the Firth, 
and four splendid buildings, dotted far apart — not an ugly object to be seen. 
When I look out in the morning, it is as if I had waked up in Utopia or 
Icaria, or one of Owen's parallelograms. — George Eliot. 



172 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

Edina! Scotia's darling seat! 

All hail thy palaces and tow'rs, 
Where once beneath a monarch's feet 

Sat legislation's sov'reign povv'rs. — Burns. 

I am enchanted with the general appearance of this place. It far sur- 
passes all my expectations ; and, except Naples, is, I think, the most pictur- 
esque place I have ever seen. — Irving. 

" Every true Scotsman believes Edinburgh to be the most picturesque city 
in the world," said Alexander Smith. A stranger approaching that city must 
experience the same feeling, for not only natural scenery and art, but also 
history and romance combine to grace the old capital of Scotland with almost 
mythical splendor. — Helen S. Conant. 

What the tour of Europe was necessary to see elsewhere I now find con- 
gregated in this one city. Here alike are the beauties of Prague and of 
Salzburg ; here are the romantic sites of Orvieto and Tivoli ; and here is all 
the admired magnificence of the bays of Naples and Genoa. Here, indeed, 
to the poetic fancy, may be found the Roman capital and the Grecian 
Acropolis. — Sir David Wilkie. 

Edinburgh! Beautiful exceedingly in the gray morning, in the gairish 
noon-day, and in the golden evening, . . . sublime in the summer afternoon; 
and grandly solemn by night, when the enormous masses of buildings are 
illuminated by countless lamps that only make the darkness visible. — Anon. 

It seemed as if it had been built to some unearthly music, or after a model 
suspended in the clouds, and formed by the hands of air and sunshine. 
Stoue and rock seemed here molded into the express image of genius, and 
nature and art were apparently satisfied. — Rev. George Gilfillan. 

Edinburgh was Dr. Guthrie's home for the latter half of his life. Living 
there, he could adopt Paul's words and say, "I am a citizen of no mean 
city." To him, her craggy heights and classic beauty were a source of daily 
enjoyment; and when visitors from other lands were his guests, he de- 
lighted to point out to them the unique features of the " gray metropolis of 
the North." '-Ere the heat of the day," to use his own words, "has cast 
a misty veil upon the scene, I take a stranger and, conducting his steps to 
yonder rocky rampart, I bid him look. Gothic towers and Grecian temples, 
palaces, spires, domes, monuments, and verdant gardens, picturesquely 
mingled, are spread out beneath his eye; wherever lie turns, he finds a 
point of view to claim his admiration. What rare variety of hill and 
hollow! What happy combination of ancient and modern architecture! 
Two distant ages gaze at each other across the intervening valley." — Auto- 
biography and Memoir of Guthrie. 



EDINBURGH. 173 



Edinburgh is rich in interest to the historian, the antiquarian, the tourist, 
the scientific or literary man, the politician, and the reformer. — Prof. J. S. Lee. 

It has a history that is recent enough to be authentic, and old enough to 
have light and shade in it. — D. R. Locke. 

The dark struggles of early Scottish history — the long, fierce battle storms, 
lit by brief splendors of heroism, the pomp of feudal power and old royal 
pageants, holy martyrdoms for freedom and for God, Mary Stuart's proud, 
sad, and tempestuous career, the romance of Scott, the poetry of Burns, all 
have conspired to give to this place a charm for my heart and a power 
over my imagination peculiar and pre-eminent. — Grace Greenwood. 

Edinburgh has made its mark upon the world, and its place among the 
great centers of the world's civilization. — Elihu Burritt. 

Here we were in the very place that "Walter Scott has made us long and 
long to see, and were to visit the scenes that were sung in his matchless 
minstrels, and painted in his graphic romances. Here was the city where 
Knox, the reformer, preached, and Mary Queen of Scots held her brief and 
storm}' reign. Here we were to see Holyrood, Edinburgh Castle, and a 
hundred scenes identified with Scottish history, the very names of which 
served to help the melodious flow of the rhythm of Scott's entrancing poems. 
— Curtis Guild. 

Still on the spot Lord Marmion stayed, 

For fairer scene he ne'er surveyed, 

When seated with the martial show 

That peopled all the plains below, 

The wandering eye could o'er it go, 

And mark the distant city glow 

"With gloomy splendor red; 

For on the smoke-wreaths huge and slow 

That round her sable turrets flow, 

The morniug beams were shed, 

And tinged them with a luster proud, 

Like that which streaks a thunder cloud. 

Such dusky grandeur clothed the height, 

Where the huge Castle holds its state, 

And all the steep slope down 

Whose ridgy back heaves to the sky, 

Piled deep and massy, close and high, 

Mine own romantic town. — Scott. 

Edinburgh is noted for the number of monuments it has 
erected to the memory of great men. 



174 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

The temple-shaped monument of Robert Burns is on the 
south side of Regent Road, which leads from Holyrood to 
Princes Street. 

Calton Cemetery, which adjoins Edinburgh prison on the 
west, contains the plain circular monument of David Hume. 

The memories of Dugald Stewart, professor of moral phi- 
losophy, and John Playfair, professor of natural philosophy 
in Edinburgh University; also Lord Nelson, the hero of 
Trafalgar, are perpetuated by monuments on Calton Hill. 

The most famous monument is that of Sir Walter Scott, 
located on Princes Street. It is a Gothic spire two hundred 
feet high. The base forms an arched canopy, under which 
is a marble statue of Scott, with his dog Maida lying at his 
feet. From base to pinnacle the spire is ornamented with 
Gothic niches, in some of which have been placed statues of 
heroes and heroines described by Scott in his Waverlet/s. 
It is designed that every niche shall thus be filled. Scott 
was born in Edinburgh August 15, 1771. 

It is but just that the most beautiful object in a beautiful city should be 
the monument of Sir Walter Scott, for in his head and heart Edinburgh 
truly might be said to live. — By the author of Vera. 

It is a spendid Gothic tower, and said to be "a recollection of the archi- 
tectural beauties of Melrose Abbey." — Curtis Guild. 

Well have the people of Edinburgh erected the Gothic monument to Scott, 
rising so solidly, yet so lightly, in such fair proportions, looming so loftily 
in the shadow of their Acropolis ! — S. S. Cox. 

Scott's beautiful monument, a canopy of Gothic arches and a fantastic 
spire, beneath which he sits, thoughtful, and observant of what passes in 
the contiguous street. — Hawthorne. 

While we were passing the monument of Scott, I felt an oppressive mel- 
ancholy. What a moment life seems in the presence of the noble dead ! 
What a momentary thing is art, in all its beauty 1 Where are all those 
great souls that have created such an atmosphere of liajht about Edinburgh ? 
and how little a space was given them to live and enjoy. — Mrs. Stowe. 

Edinburgh University occupies the site of the house where 
Lord Darnley met his tragic death, February 9, 1567. It 
was founded by James VI., in 1582. 




WHIN KNOX S CHURCH, KDINBURGH. 



EDINBURGH. 175 



The Royal Institution, near Princes Street, contains the 
Antiquarian Museum, where many interesting historical relics 
are to be seen ; among them the very pulpit from which John 
Knox hurled such anathemas against the Church of Rome, 
and that horrible instrument of death — a rudely construct- 
ed guillotine — called the " Maiden." 

The Parliament House, on the south side of Parliament 
Square, has been used since the union by the Supreme Court 
of Scotland. In its great hall the last Scottish Parliament 
was held in 1707. This hall has a famous roof, made with 
pendants of carved oak, and a famous stained-glass window, 
portraying " the inauguration of the College of Justice, or the 
Supreme Court of Scotland, by King James V., in 1532." 

Two interesting churches to visit in Edinburgh are St. 
Giles's Cathedral, on High Street, near Parliament Square, 
and Greyfriars Church, on Candlemaker Row, near High 
Street. 

John Knox, the famous Scottish leader in the Reforma- 
tion, preached many a stirring sermon in St. Giles. 

Just before his departure for England, James VI. attended 
services in this church, and made his farewell speech to the 
people. St. Giles is also noted as the church where, July 
23, 1637, Jenny Geddes, a Scotch woman, wdiose strong sec- 
tarian ideas resented all innovations, indignantly hurled her 
stool at the head of the Dean of Edinburgh, who, in obe- 
dience to a royal mandate, was reading the liturgy of the 
English Church. 

October 13, 1643, the Solemn League and Covenant was 
signed in St. Giles by the " Committee of Estates of Parlia- 
ment, the Commission of the Church, and the English Com- 
mission." 

Regent Moray, assassinated at Linlithgow in 1570, and the 
Marquis of Montrose, hanged at Edinburgh, May 21, 1650, 
are both buried in St. Giles. 

The old Tolbooth, or jail, called the Heart of Mid- 



176 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR OS A CHS. 

Lothian, once stood near the north-west corner of St. Giles, 
and a figure of a heart in the pavement designates its site. 
The readers of Scott are familiar with this spot. 

The large open space near the church, now called Parlia- 
ment Square, was formerly the cemetery of St. Giles. Many 
eminent men were buried here, among them John Knox. 
The city needed this land for street purposes, consequently 
most of the bodies were removed. The grave of Knox 
was not disturbed, and to-day a bronzed stone in the pave- 
ment, bearing the inscription J. K., 1572, marks the spot, 
where, November 26, 1572, the great Reformer was buried. 

Among the celebrated divines who preached at Greyfriars 
Church we find the names of William Robertson, the famous 
Scottish historian, and Dr. Thomas Guthrie, one of the leaders 
in the discussion resulting in the disruption of the Church of 
Scotland, and the organization of the Free Church. 

It was in Greyfriars that the National Covenant received 
its first signatures, in 1638. This Covenant was formed by 
the Scotch people as a protest against the attempts of James I. 
and Charles I. to force the episcopacy upon them. 

Sir AValter Scott attended Greyfriars Church when a boy, 
and his father is buried in the yard, which is considered one 
of the most interesting places in the city, for here are in- 
terred some of Scotland's greatest men and noblest martyrs. 

The historical interest of this church and its grave-yard is very great. 
Here on the 28th of February, 1638, the National Covenant was signed by 
numbers within the church itself, the old Earl of Sutherland setting the 
example; thereafter, the parchment was carried out to the open air, and 
laid on a horizontal grave-stone, and was surrounded by a moved and 
mighty multitude. "They were not content to sign it with ink. Ahl 
there were men in those days ; they were seen to open a vein in their arms 
and rill their pens with their blood, to mark how they would shed that 
blood when the battle-day came ; and nobly did they redeem their 
pledges." 

In 1679 a detached portion of the church-yard was employed as a prison 
for six hundred Covenanters, taken after the defeat at Bothwell Bridge ; 
here, for four weary months, they were exposed day and night to the open 



EDINBURGH. 17' 



sky, and barely kept alive by provisions supplied to them through the iron 
gates. All around, on the moldering grave-stones, the eye falls on many 
names of renowned Scotchmen: George Buchanan, George Heriot, Alexan- 
der Henderson, Colin Maclaurin, President Forbes, of Culloden ; Allan 
Ramsay, Principal Robertson, Dr. Erskine, Thomas McCrie, and many 
more lie here. The a martyrs' monument " alone draws visitors from many 
lauds to this burial place. " However deep," says Hugh Miller, " the 
snow may lie in Greyfriars church-yard, there is one path where the snow 
is always beaten down, and that leads to the monument of the Cove- 
nanters." — Autobiography and Memoirs of Guthrie. 

Holyrood Palace stands near the terminus of High Street. 
It was founded by James IV., in 1501, partially built by 
James V. in 1528, and completed by Charles II. from 1671 
to 1679. The building is quadrangular in form, with round 
towers, and an inner court ninety-four feet square. Holyrood 
was the principal residence of Mary Queen of Scots, also 
Charles I. and II. 

Queen Victoria always visits this palace when making her 
annual visit to Balmoral Castle. 

The most interesting rooms at Holyrood are the apart- 
ments of Queen Mary and Lord Darnley. The former are 
on the second floor and include four rooms. The bed- 
chamber contains the queen's bed inclosed by an iron railing. 

The supper-room is where Rizzio, the queen's favorite 
secretary, was murdered, March 9, 1566. The conspirators, 
consisting of the Earl of Morton, Lord Darnley, Lord Ruth- 
ven, and Lord Lindsay, entered the room by a private stair- 
way. The queen made an ineffectual attempt to protect 
Rizzio, who took refuge behind her crying, " Save my life ! " 
He was stabbed several times in her presence and then 
dragged to the head of the public stair-way, where he died, 
pierced by fifty-six wounds. 

Lord Darnley's rooms contain several fine portraits and 
wonderful specimens of ancient tapestry. 

That ancient dwelling-place of Scottish royalty, Holyrood Palace. Holy- 
rood Palace is interesting from the numerous important events in Scottish 
history that have transpired within its walls. — Curtis Guild. 



178 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR08AGH8. 

The next day we went to the old palace of Holyrood, and were shown 
the apartments of the unfortunate Queen of Scots. 

" There," said the tall Scotchman who attended the place, " is the room 
where Rizzio was murdered, in the presence of Mary." 

We were told that a certain stain on the floor was the blood of the 
hapless man. — Hezekiah Butkrworth. 

Nestled at the foot of a green hill is Holyrood Palace, and on the summit 
of a precipitous wall of rock towers the castle, haunted by memories of 
Marv, Queen of Scots. Much of the palace is cpute modern, but the old 
tower, containing Mary's apartments, still remains. There is a touching inter- 
est attached to every thing that once was hers; the little desk her fair 
fingers handled, the stiff-backed chairs she sat upon, and the dainty bed, 
with its faded siik coverlet and canopy of embroidered crimson silk, that 
must have been handsome in its day. — Mary L. Ninde. 

Holyrood Palace, a building neither grand nor beautiful in itself, and 
interesting alone for its tragic and romantic memories. . . . The presence- 
chamber of the unfortunate queen, though far from being of royal dimen- 
sions, richness, and splendor, according to modern ideas, must have been a 
handsome apartment in Mary's time. ... It is a silent, bare, and desolate 
room now ; yet as I stood there vision after vision of royal magnificence and 
courtly beauty and splendid festivity passed before me. — Grace Greenwood. 

Holyrood Castle, whose chief interest is from its association with the 
mother of James, the beautiful, but ill-fated, Mary. How all that his- 
tor}-, stranger and sadder thau any romance, comes back again, as we stand 
on the very spot where she stood when she was married, and pass through 
the rooms in which she lived, and see the very bed on which she slept, un- 
conscious of the doom that was before her, and trace all the surroundings of 
her most romantic and yet most tragic history — Henry M. Field, D.D. 

Adjoining the palace is Holyrood Abbey, founded by 
David I., in 1128. The abbey was partially destroyed by 
Edward II., in 1322 ; burned by Richard II., in 1385; re- 
built by Abbot Crawford near the close of the loth century; 
considerably demolished by the English in 1547, and the 
reformers in 168S. 

The only portion of the abbey now remaining is the Royal 
Chapel. 

Charles I. was crowned in this chapel. Between the win- 
dows, over the great door-way, is a tablet on which he 
ordered the following inscription to be placed: 



EDINBURGH. 170 



"He shall build ane house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of 
bis kingdom for ever." 

Just below this inscription are the king's initials. 

In this chapel was solemnized the marriage of James II., 
in 1449 ; James III., in 1469; James IV., August 8, 1503; 
Mary, Queen of Scots, July 29, 1565. 

Several of Scotland's kings are buried in the royal vault of 
this chapel. 

Holyrood Abbey is roofless, although the front, and some broken columns 
along the nave, and fragments of architecture here and there, afford hints 
of a magnificent Gothic church in by-gone days. It deserves to be magnifi- 
cent; for here have been stately ceremonial?, marriages of kings, corona- 
tions, investitures before the high altar, which has now been overthrown 
or crumbled away ; and the floor, so far as there is any floor, consists of 
tomb-stones of the old Scottish nobility. — Hawtlwme. 

The gairish sun shines boldly down into the very center of what was 
once the dim-lighted, solemn old abbey, with its cool, quiet cloister, that 
scarce echoed to the monk's sandaled footstep and the gracefully pointed 
arches, supported by clusters of stone pillars, throw their quaint shadows 
on the greensward now, where was once the chapel's stone pavement ; the 
great arched window, through which the light once fell in shattered 
rainbows to the floor, stands now, slender and weird, with its tracery 
against the heaven, like a skeleton of the past; and the half-obliterated or 
undecipherable vain-glorious descriptions on the slabs, here and there, are 
all that remain of this monument of men's power and pride — a monument 
beautiful in its very ruins, and romantic from the halo of associations 
of the dim past that surround it. — Curtis Guild. 

The precipitous mass of rocks upon which Edinburgh 
Castle is built includes an area of seven acres, and a height 
of about four hundred feet. 

Its earliest history is a bit doubtful, but the Castle is sup- 
posed to have been erected in 617. According to an old 
legend, the Pictish kings utilized the castle as a place of 
safety for their unmarried daughters, which gave it the 
name of Castrum Puellarum — Castle of Maidens. In course 
of time the Castle became a powerful fortress, also the resi- 
dence of Scotland's kings and queens. 

Queen Mary lived for a time at the Castle, and here her 



180 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

son, James VI., was born, June 19, 1556. The apartments 
occupied by the queen are open to the public daily. 

The ancient regalia of Scotland is kept in the Castle. It 
includes a crown, scepter, sword of state, and the lord 
treasurer's rod of office. Although the crown is marked 
with the initials of James V., circumstances authorize the 
claim of its being worn by Robert Bruce. It was last used 
at the coronation of Charles II. 

Queen Margaret's Chapel — the oldest and smallest in 
Scotland — occupies the highest point of the castle grounds. 
It was built in the eleventh century by Margaret, wife of 
Malcolm Canmore. 

The famous cannon called Mons Meg stands in front of 
this chapel. It weighs five tons, and was " used at the 
storming of the castles of Dumbarton and Norham, on the 
borders, in 1489 and 1497." 

Of the Castle, as a natural feature, how is it possible to say too much? 
Thrust up between the dusky ridges of the old town and the long rectan- 
gular vistas of the new, it stands there a citadel, a watch-tower, and a land- 
mark seen from afar. — Helen S. Conant. 

It seemed as if the rock and castle assumed a new aspect every time I 
looked at them. — Irving. 

I looked across the valley to the castle, where Mons Meg is plainly visi- 
ble on the upper platform, and the lower ramparts zigzagging about the 
edge of the precipice, which nearly in front of us is concealed or softened 
by a great deal of shrubbe^, but farther off descends steeply down to the 
grass below. Somewhere on this side of the rock was the point where 
Claverhouse, on quitting Edinburgh before the battle of Killiecrankie, 
clambered up to hold an interview with the Duke of Gordon. What an ex- 
cellent tiling it is to have such striking and indestructible landmarks and 
time-marks that they serve to affix historical incidents to, and thus, as it 
were, nail down the past for the benefit of all future ages I — Hawthorne. 

From whatever side you may approach the city, whether by water or by 
land, whether your foreground consist of height or of plain, of heath or 
trees, or of the buildings of the city itself, this gigantic rock lifts itself high 
above all that surrounds it. and breaks upon the sky with the same com- 
manding blackness of mingled cliffs, buttresses, and battlements. — Peter's 
Letters. 



EDINBURGH. 181 



High over all is the Castle, cold and grand on its rocky throne. — Hezekiah 
Butterworth. 

From every side it is grand, stately, imposing. — Harper's Bazar. 

The Castle, lifted in air four hundred feet by the cliff that rears its rocky 
front from the valley below, its top girt round with walls, and frowning: 
with batteries. "What associations cluster about those heights ! — H. M. 
F:< hi, D.D. 

The Castle is fraught with historic interest, having been the scene of so 
many crimes, romantic adventures, captivities, and sieges, within the past 
four hundred years, scenes that have been the most vivid in the pages of 
history, and formed an almost inexhaustible theme for the most graphic 
pictuies of the novelist. — Curtis Guild, 

The Castle of Edinburgh is one of the most picturesque in Europe. — D. 
R. Locke. 

By night the Castle and its rock — 

" Where trusted lie the monarchy's lost gems, 
Since Fergus, father of a hundred kings," 

are always involved in somber blackness and gloom; but by day they look 
down upon the double city with something of stern peacefulness. The rock 
witli its brown cliffs, trees, and bushes, and the fortress, with its gray bat- 
teries, cast a deep shadow at noon over these beautiful gardens where the 
children gambol and the railway-engine sends up its echoed shriek; but 
grander still are all the effects of the broken masses of light and shadow 
when the golden sunset is fading behind the dark hills of Corstorphine. — 
Picturesque Europe. 

Hawthornden and Roslin Chapel are about seven miles 
south of Edinburgh, on the River Esk. 

Hawthornden is an estate once owned by William Drum- 
mond, the Scottish poet, the warm friend of Ben Jonson 
and Shakespeare. The house is most charmingly located on 
a high precipitous cliff on the east bank of the Esk. Under 
the mansion are a number of caves, varying in size, and con- 
nected with each other. In one of these caves it is claimed 
that Robert Bruce was for a long time hid. 

A narrow and beautiful glen connects Hawthornden with 
Roslin Chapel, which is a little farther down the river on the 
opposite bank : 



182 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR OS A CHS. 

Sweet are thy paths, passing sweet, 

By Esk's fair streams tliat run, 
O'er airy steep, through copsewood deep. 

Impervious to the sua. 

Who knows not Melville's beechy grove, 

And Roslin's rocky glen, 
Dalkeith, which all the virtues love, 

And classic Hawthornden? — Scott. 

Roslin Chapel was founded in 1446 by William St. Clair, 
the third Earl of Orkney, also Lord of Roslin. 

This chapel is particularly famous for its elaborate orna- 
mentations. The Apprentice's Pillar is a wonderful speci- 
men of profuse and beautiful carving. The legend con- 
nected with this pillar is, that during the absence of the 
master workman one of his men finished the pillar after a 
design of his own conception. His master, on his return, 
was so enraged at his presumption, as he saw fit to call it, 
that he killed him. 

Roslin Chapel, both on account of its architecture and a romantic interest 
connected with its history, has long been an object of attraction. — Blurt's 
Guide- Book. 

The architecture is most varied and singular. — Harper's Guide-Boole. 

The eye is simply bewildered by the intricate devices and the overflowing 
evidences of manual skill which abound on every side. . . . The Ap- 
prentice's Pillar is known the world over. Itself elaborate, it is surrounded 
by a spiral wreath of exquisitely carved stone- work. — Baddelei/s Guide-Book. 

Every buttress, battlement, and projection of the exterior is incrusted 
with the most elaborate floral and leafy carving, among which the rose is 
often repeated. — Mrs. H. B. Stowe. 

The chapel is one of the most elaborately decorated specimens of archi- 
tecture in the kingdom. . . . The marvel of the whole is the Apprentice's 
Pillar, ... a clustered column, surrounded by an exquisitely wrought 
wreath of flowers running from base to capital, the very poetry of carving. — 
Curtis Guild. 

An immense vault beneath the floor of the chapel contains 
the remains of the barons of Roslin who, previous to the 



EDINBURGH. 183 



reign of James VI., were always buried without coffins, but 
in their complete armor. 

There is an old legend that just before the death of all 
these barons this chapel was always filled with a mysterious 
light. Scott refers to this legend in a pathetic ballad found 
in the last Canto of the " Lay of the Last Minstrel : " 

Seera'd all on lire that chapel proud 

Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffiu'd lie ; 
Each baron, for a sable shroud, 

Sheathed in his iron panoply. 

Seem'd all on fire within, around, 

Deep- sacristy and altar's pale; 
Shone every pillar foliage-bound, 

And glimmer' d all the dead men's mail. 

Blazed battlement and pinnet high, 
Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair; 

So still they blaze when fate is nigh 
The lordly line of high St. Clair — Scott. 



184 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

XIII. 

THE TROSACHS. 

The Trosachs is a narrow mountain pass in Scotland, 
lying between Loch Achray and Loch Katrine. 

A trip hither forms one of most charming experiences 
of the tourist, and is easily accomplished, partly by cars, 
partly by steamer, and partly by carriage, in one day, from 
either Edinburgh or Glasgow. Trains leave Edinburgh 
every morning for — going via Stirling— Callander, a town 
fifty-two miles north-west from the city. Coaches await 
the arrival of the train to convey passengers across Loch 
Katrine, stopping for dinner at the Trosachs Hotel, which 
stands at the eastern entrance of the pass. Sailing down the 
loch by steamer, as far as Stronachlachar, the passengers 
are again transferred to coaches and carried across to In- 
versuaid, on Loch Lomond, thence by steamer to Balloch. 
located on the extreme southern point of the loch, then by cars 
to Glasgow and Edinburgh, arriving in the latter city about 
nine in the evening. Of course this journey can be easily 
reversed ; indeed, many travelers who, in crossing the At- 
lantic, land at Glasgow, go to Edinburgh via the lochs and 
the Trosachs. One of the best guide-books for this tour is 
Scott's Lady of the Lake. One familiar with the poem, even 
though it is not at hand, will readily recognize different 
points of scenery, so correctly has it been described. 

The railroad from Edinburgh to Callander passes through 
one of the most historical portions of Scotland. 

Linlithgow, a small town eighteen miles from Edinburgh, 
contains the ruins of a royal castle, built by Edward I. 

This castle was garrisoned by English soldiers, and held 
by them until 1311, when it was captured by the Scots, Avho, 
at this time, were in rebellion against England, under the 



TUB TROSACHS. 185 



leadership of Robert Bruce. The capture was accomplished 
by strategy, and is thus described by Scott in his Tales of a 
Grandfather : 

The garrison was supplied with hay by a neighboring rustic, of the name 
of Binnock or Binning, who favoied the interests of Bruce. Binnock had 
been ordered by the English governor to furnish some cart-loads of hay, of 
which the}- were in want. He promised to biing it accordingly, but the 
night before he drove the hay to the castle he stationed a party of his 
friends, as well armed as possible, near the entrance, where they could not 
be seen by the garrison, and gave them directions that the}' should come to 
liia assistance as soon as they should hear him cry a signal, which was to 
be, "Call all ! call all! " Then he loaded a great wagon with hay ; but in 
the wagon lie placed eight strong men, well armed, lying flat on their 
breasts, and covered over with hay. so that they could not be seen. He 
himself walked carelessly beside the wagon, and he chose the stoutest 
;• id bravest of his servants to be the driver, who carried at his belt a strong 
ay or hatchet. In this way Binnock approached the castle early in the 
i-.i rning; and the watchman, who only saw two men, Binnock being one 
c chem, with a cart of hay, which they expected, opened the gates and 
l- ised up the portcullis, to permit them to enter the castle. But as soon as 
the cart had gotten under the gate-way, Binnock made a sign to his servant, 
who, with his ax, suddenly cut asunder the soam, that is, the yoke which 
fastens the horses to the cart ; and the horses, finding themselves free, 
naturally started forward, the cart remaining behind under the arch of the 
gate. At the same moment Binnock cried, as loud as he could, " Call all I 
call all! " and, drawing the sword which he had under his country habit, 
he killed the porter. The armed men then jumped up from under the hay, 
where they lay concealed, and rushed on the English guard. The English- 
men tried to shut the gates, but they could not, because th^ cart of hay 
remained in the gate-way, and prevented the folding-doors from being 
closed. The portcullis was, also, let fall, but the grating was caught on the 
cart, and so could not drop to the ground. . The men who were in ambush 
near the gate hearing the cry, " Call all ! call all ! " ran to assist those who 
had leaped out from among the hay. The castle was taken, and all the 
Englishmen killed or made prisoners." 

This castle was a favorite residence of the Scottish kings, 
and often formed a part of the marriage settlement of their 
wives. 

James V. was born in this castle, April 10, 1512, and 
13 



186 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 



here also his daughter Mary, afterward queen, was born, Dec. 
7, 1542. Her birth occurred just one week previous to her 
father's death at Falkland. 

This castle was burnt by the English in 1746. 

The ruins are located on the borders of a beautiful lake. 

It is a very picturesque ruin. — Harpers Guide-Book. 

Linlithgow has many historical associations. — Baddeley's Guide-Book. 

The castle has a very sad and romantic appearance, standing there alone 
as it does, looking down into the quiet ldke. — Mrs. Slowe. 

Linlithgow Palace is, by general consent, the finest ruin of its kind in 
Scotland. Heavy but effective, the somber walls rise above the green 
knolls of the promontory which divides the lake into two nearly equal 
portions. — Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

Of all the palaces so fair, 

Built for the royal dwelling, 
In Scotland far beyond compare, 

Linlithgow is excelling; 
And in its park, in jovial June, 
How sweet the merry linnet's tune, 

How blithe the blackbird's lay. — Scnlt. 

The brother of Mary Queen of Scots, James Stuart, Earl 
of Moray and Regent of Scotland, was shot in High Street, 
Linlithgow, Jan. 23, 1570, by Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh. 

A little south of the castle stands the Church of St. 
Michael, where, it is claimed, James IV. of Scotland was 
warned in a vision of the disastrous results of the battle of 
Flodden Field. 

And in Linlithgow's holy dome 

The king, as wont, was praying, 
In Katharine's aisle the monarch knelt, 
"With sackcloth shirt and iron belt, 

And eyes with sorrow streaming. 

Stepped from the crowd a ghostly wight, 
In azuie gown, with cincture white; 

He stepped before the monarch's chair, 



THE TRO SACHS. 187 



And stood with rustic plainness there, 

And little reverence made; 
Nor head nor body bowed or bent, 
But on the desk his arm he leant, 

And words like these he said, 
In a low voice — but never tone 
So thrilled through vein and nerve and bone: 

" My mother sent me from afar, 
Sir king, to warn thee not to war — 
Wo waits on thine array ! " 

The wondering monarch seemed to seek 

For answer, and found none ; 
And when he raised his head to speak 

The monitor was gone. 

— Canto iv., Marmion. Scott. 

The battle of Flodden Field was fought Sept. 9, 1513, and, 
although lasting hut little over an hour, resulted in the 
total defeat of the Scots by the English. King James him- 
self was killed in the engagement. 

Stirling, an ancient town of Scotland, is thirty-five miles 
from Edinburgh. The whole town teems with historic in- 
terest, and here one day or more could be profitably spent. 

Queen Mary and her son, James VI., were both crowned 
in Greyfriars Church at Stirling. 

The famous Castle of Stirling stands on a rocky height 
two hundred and twenty feet high. It is as intimately 
connected with the history of Scotland as any castle in the 
kingdom. Kings were born, lived, and died within its 
Avails. Here important campaigns were planned, important 
events transpired, and long sieges were maintained. 

One of the most interesting apartments is the Douglas 
room. 

Douglas is the name of one of the oldest and most pow- 
erful families in Scotland. Some of the Earls of Douglas 
were among the most famous feudal warriors of their time, 
and lived for a long series of years on their own domains, 



188 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

_ __ 

which they held independent of the crown. William, Earl 
of Douglas, figured conspicuously in the wars between Scot- 
land and England which occurred during the reign of 
James II., King of the Scots. In 1449 this king attempted 
to curtail the power of Douglas, who, incensed at his treat- 
ment, withdrew from the court of King James to his own 
territory, where he lived for a time as an independent sov- 
ereign, and finally created and headed a rebellion against 
the government of Scotland. King James, heaiing of this, 
sent for Douglas to come to Stirling Castle for the purpose 
of arranging a reconciliation. 

The safety of his life being assured by the king, Douglas 
came to the castle, and, after a fierce discussion, in which 
he positively refused to abandon his project of overthrowing 
the power of the king, was murdered by James and his body 
thrown out of the window. This scene was enacted in what 
is now called the Douglas room. 

The castle is now used for soldiers' barracks. The view 
from its ramparts is considered to be unsurpassed in Scot- 
land, and it includes twelve important battle fields. 

The castle, on the brow of a precipitous rock that rises yet higher, is no 
less interesting for its natural attractions than for its historical associations. 
— Satchel Guide. 

Stirling Castle, for many centuries the seat of the Scottish kings. — Loomis's 
Index Guide. 

Stirling Castle, renowned in the history of the country, is placed on the 
brow of the ridge ovci looking the carse of Stirling. . . . The view from 
the battlements is beautiful and extensive. — Black's Guide-Book. 

In point of historical interest the castle of Stirling is not excelled in 
Great Britain. On account of its inaccessible situation, in the center of the 
kingdom, it early became a place of importance, and was, for a lengthened 
period, the favorite royal residence. — Harper's Guide-Book. 
Here Stuarts once in glory reigned, 
And laws for Scotland's weal ordained. — Burns. 

Stirling, whose castle, magnificently seated on a rocky throne, looks right 
worthy to have been the seat of Scotland's court, as it was for many years. 
— Mrs. Stowe. 



THE TR OS A CHS. 189 



Sliding Castle. . . . this brave old rocky seat of power. . . . The very 
seat of James V. himself; around which the sports and games of the olden 
time were enacted. . . . Stirling towers, where often the spectator of many 
a bloody fray stood poised between hope and fear. — S. S. Cox. 

From Stirling Castle one looks down upon a dozen battle fields. He is 
in sight of Bannockburn, where Bruce drove back the English invader, and 
of other fields associated with Wallace. — H. M. Field, D.D. 

This strong old castle, standing directly upon the brow of a precipitous 
rock, overlooks one of the most extended and beautiful landscapes in the 
kingdom — the beautiful vale of Mouteith, the Highland mountains in the dis- 
tance, Benlomond, Benvenue, Benledi, and several other "Bens;" the 
river Forth, winding his devious course through the fertile valley, the broad 
road, far below at our feet, running along to the faintly marked ruin of Cam- 
buskenneth Abbey, and the little villages and arched bridges, form a charm- 
ing view. — Curtis Guild. 

When we look from Stirling when the sun is shining, we see him shine 
over undulating groves and rich fields — on stately mansions amid beautiful 
pleasure-grounds — the winding Forth gradually expanding into a vast estu- 
ary, with towns, villages, and spires occurring at intervals, till the land- 
scape closes in hazy distances amid the hills, the umbered masses, and the 
smoke of Edinburgh. The boundary-line of the horizon is more close and 
craggy, where the deep purple slopes and jagged peaks of the Grampian 
range stand sharply out against the deep blue of the sky, while the wind- 
ings of the Forth lie like links of gold amid the bordering greenery. — Pict- 
uresque Europe. 

We mounted the castle wall, where it broods over a precipice of many 
hundred feet perpendicular, looking down upon a level plain below, and 
forth upon a landscape, every foot of which is richly studded with historic 
eveuts. ... It is a most splendid view ; in the distance the blue Highlands, 
with a variety of mountain outlines that I could have studied unweariably ; 
and in another direction, beginning almost at the foot of the castle hill, 
were the links of Forth, where, over a plain of miles in extent, the river 
meandered, and circled about, and returned upon itself again, as if knotted 
into a silver chain. . . . The history of Scotland might be read from this 
castle wall, as on a book of mighty pages. — Hmvthorne. 

Issuing on to the ramparts. . . . we gain the famous view point called 
Queen Mary's Lookout. From it the eye ranges over the carse of Stirling, 
through which the Forth, above and below its junction with the Teith, me- 
anders in a succession of bewildering curves from the far-off hills. — Bad- 
deleys Guide-Book. 



190 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACIIS. 

" The port-battery of Stirling Castle," says a writer, " commands, in all its 
amplitude and gorgeousness, the surprisingly brilliant panorama from Ben- 
lomond, Benvenue, Benledi, Benvoirlich, through the Trosachs. the vales 
of the Forth, the Firth, and the Allon, the plains of Lennox, and the 
opulent Lothians, to the clearly-seen heights of the Scottish metropolis. — 
Picturesque Europe. 

We ascended to the ramparts, where we found one of the most splendid 
views, morally and materially, that this world can show. Indeed, 1 think 
there cannot be such a landscape as the carse of Stirling set in such a 
frame as it is — the Highlands. . . . and the whole Ben brotherhood, with 
the Grampians surrounding it to the westward and northward. . . . The 
plain itself, so worthy of the richest setting, so fertile, so beautiful, so writ- 
ten over and over again with histories. ... I do not wonder that Provi- 
dence caused great tilings to happen on this plain; it was like choosing a 
good piece of canvass to paint a great picture upon. — Hawthorne. 

The magnificent monument of Sir William Wallace, who 
gained his first victory over the English in the great battle 
of Stirling Bridge, Sept. 10, 1297, is about a mile and a half 
from the town. The battle field of Bannockburn, where, 
June 24, 1314, the Scots, under Robert Bruce, defeated the 
English, commanded by Edward II., is three miles south-east 
of Stirling. 

About seven miles south-east from Callander, Avhich is 
sixteen miles from Stirling, we come to the old town of 
Doune, containing the magnificent ruin of one of Scotland's 
famous castles. It stands on the banks of the river Teith, 
and is called by the name of the village in which it is lo- 
cated. Scott writes of this castle in his Waverley. 

After leaving the cars at Callander, and seating himself in 
one of the comfortable open coaches always in waiting for 
Trosach passengers, the tourist finds himself, especially if 
he be a reader of Scott, entering upon and passing through 
a country of not only wonderfully beautiful, but strangely 
familiar, scenery. 

Here Vennachar in silver flowers, 
There, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose; 
Ever the hollow path twined on, 



THE TROSACIIS. 191 



Beneath steep bank and threatening stone; 
An hundred men might hold the post 
With hardihood against a host. 
The rugged mountain's scanty cloak 
Was dwarfish shrubs of birch and oak, 
With shingles bare and cliffs between, 
And patches bright of bracken green, 
And heather black, that waved so high, 
It held the copse in rivalry. 
But where the lake slept deep and still, 
Dank osiers fringed the swamp and hill ; 
And oft both path and hill were torn. 
Where wintry torrents down had borne, 
And heaped upon the cumber'd land 
Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand. — Scott. 

Coilantogle Ford, where occurred the famous duel between 
Fitz James and Roderick Dhu, is on the eastern end of Loch 
Vennacliar. 

The chief in silence strode before, 

And reach'd that torrent's sounding shore, 

Which, daughter of three mighty lakes, 

From Yennachar in silver breaks, 

Sweeps through the plain, and ceaseless mine3 

On Bochastle the moldering lines 

Where Rome, the empress of the world, 

Of yore her eagie wings unfurl'd. 

And here his course the Chieftain stay'd. 

Threw down his target and his plaid, 

And to the Lowland warrior said: 

li Bold Saxon! to his promise just, 

Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust. 

This murderous chief, this ruthless man, 

This head of a rebellious clan, 

Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward, 

Far past Clan- Alpine's outmost guard. 

Now, man to man, aud steel to steel, 

A chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel. 

See, here all vantageless I stand, 

Armed, like thyself, with single brand; 



102 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

For this is Coilantogle Ford, 

And thou must keep thee with thy sword. — Scott. 

Lanrick Mead, near the western extremity of Vennachar, 
has the appearance to-day of a broad, beautiful meadow. It 
was once the gathering-place of " Clan-Alpine warriors 
true." 

Then Roderick, with impatient look, 
From Brian's hand the symbol took : 
" Speed, Malise, speed ! " he said, and gave 
The crosslet to his henchman brave. 
"The muster-place be Lanrick Mead- 
Instant the time — speed, Malise, speed ! " — Scott. 

For a short distance after leaving Lanrick Mead the road 
climbs a steep height, commanding charming glimpses and 
extended views of lochs and mountains, and, descending 
thence, passes " Duncraggan's huts." 

The lake is passed, 
Duncraggan's huts appear at last, 
And peep, like moss-grown rocks, half seeu, 
Half-hidden in the copse so green. — Scott. 

A new " Brigg of Turk " takes the place of the one re- 
ferred to by Scott, and is very near the Duncraggan huts. 

'Twere long to tell what steeds gave o'er, 
As swept the hunt through Cambus-more; 
What reins were tightened in despair 
When rose Benledi's ridge in air ; 
Who flagg'd upon Bochastle's heath, 
Who shtum'd to stem the flooded Teith — 
For twice that day, from shore to shore, 
The gallant stag swam stoutly o'er. 
Few were the stragglers, following far, 
That reach'd the lake of Vennachar ; 
And when the Brigg of Turk was won, 
The headmost horseman rode alone. — Scott. 

The mountain pass of Glenfinlas extends northward 
from a point near the Brigg of Turk, terminating in the ex- 



THE TRO SACHS. 103 



tensive forest of the same name owned by the Earl of Mo- 
ray. This pass forms the theme of one of Scott's famous 
ballads, " Glenfinlas ; or, Lord Ronald's Coronach." 

After crossing the Brigg of Turk the road skirts the north- 
ern shore of Loch Achray, on the western point of which 
stands the Trosachs Hotel. 

From the hotel the "bold cliffs of Benvenue " form a 
prominent feature of the landscape, but the finest view of 
this mountain is obtained in sailing down Loch Katrine. 

Loch Achray is a small but beautiful sheet of water. 

The minstrel came once more to view 
The eastern ridge of Benvenue, 
For ere he parted he would say- 
Farewell to lovely Loch Achray — 
"Where shall he find, in foreign land, 
So lone a lake, so sweet a strand ! — Scott. 

The Trosachs pass lies between Loch Achray and Loch 
Katrine, and is about one mile in length. In the days of 
which Scott wrote, in his Lady of the Lake, only the ex- 
perienced huntsman or clansman could safely penetrate this 
wild region ; now a well-made, well-kept road winds its way 
through scenery grand and picturesque, which the tourist, 
seated in comfortable coaches, drawn by strong horses and 
driven by careful drivers, enjoys at his leisure without the 
fear of any impending danger. 

The Trosachs have been deservedly celebrated for a character of scenery 
almost peculiar to Scotland. This feature consists of a wild intermixture 
of mountain, dell, copse and lake, brought together with an almost fasci- 
nating effect. —Black's Guide-Book. 

The Trosachs are a wild gorge. — Satchel Guide. 

A rich copse-wood dingle, which admits of little distant view except the 
peak of Bena'an. — Buddeley's Guide-Book. 

A glen filled with masses of rock, which seem to have been shaken by 
some convulsion of nature from the high steeps on either side, and in whose 
shelves and crevices time had planted a thick wood of birch and ash. — 
Bryant. 



194 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TR OS A CHS. 

The mountains around the Trosachs rise loftily and closely, presenting 
true Scottish features of the most beautiful cast. — J. F. HnnneweU. 

The Trosachs, consisting of hills and rocks, covered thick with moss, 
piled indiscriminately together, and which forms a very wild and dark 
scene. — Nicholas Murray. 

The Trosachs, the scene of Rob Roy's adventures, the wildest and most 
picturesque region we have yet visited. — Prof. J. S. Lee. 

A wooded bristling region of ragged hills and jagged precipices rises 
round in pictures of wild and romantic beauty. — S. I. Prime. 

The Trosachs seems to have been formed by some convulsion of nature, 
which resulted in casting up, in the wildest possible confusion, the varied 
materials of the mountains and the vales ; and then over this wild scene 
vegetation sprang up. — Wilbur Fisk, D.D. 

As a mountain pass, the Trosachs are not remarkable; but for variety 
of views of neighboring mountains, and Lochs Achray and Katrine, they 
are justly admired. — P. B. Cogswell. 

Above and below us, to the right and to the left, were rocks, knolls, and 
hills, which, wherever any thing could grow — and that was every-where 
between the rocks, were covered with trees and heather. — Dorothy 
Wordsworth. 

A wild and confused assemblage of heights, crags, precipices. — Hawthorne. 

No region, except that around Melrose and Abbotsford, is more thoroughly 
and delightfully associated with Scott and with his creations than this 
within the circuit of a dozen miles from the Trosachs ; it deserves and 
rewards complete exploration. — J. F. Hunnewell. 

On each side the crags, knolls, and mounds rise confusedly, streaked 
grey, weather-stained, green with moss, purple with heather. — S. G. 
Green, D.D. 

A wildering scene of mountains, rocks, and woods. — Anon. 

The spot is picturesque, and Scotland's great poet and novelist has in- 
vested it with such deep romance that it is full of interest. — L. L. Eolden. 

The rough country over which we are riding just now is no wilder than 
many of the roads among the Vv'hite Mountains — but it is the country of 
Rob Roy!—//. M. Field. D.D. 

The Trosachs are a cluster of small green mountaius, strewn, or rather 
piled, with shrub and mossy verdure. — X. P. Willis. 

The pass of the Trosachs. or "bristled territory," is occupied by intricate 
groups of rocky and wooded eminences. — William Beattie, M.D. 



THE TROSACHS. 195 



This is the very center of tlie Lady -of -the- Lake region, and filled with 
romantic interest. — O. R. Burchard. 

A wild region of lake, hill, and valley. — D. R. Locke. 

The Trosachs opened before us, Benledi looked down over the bare 
forehead of Bena'an, and as we turned a rocky point Ellen's Isle rose up in 
front. — Bayard Taylor. 

Here island and shore and hill are richly clad in magnificent foliage ; and 
the grandeur of rocky heights and dark ravines is so pleasantly relieved, so 
softly toned down, that you feel neither wonder nor awe, but drink in beauty 
as your breath — lose yourself in delicious dreamings, and revel in all the 
unspeakable rapture of a pure and perfect delight. — Grace Greenwood. 

The wild mountain scenery reminded me often of our own White Mount- 
ains. — Curtis Guild. 

I have climbed through many a rocky mountain gorge as wild as the 
Trosachs, but they had not Walter Scott to people them with his marvelous 
creations. — H. M. Field, D.D. 

In a word, the Trosachs beggar all description. — Rev. J. Robertson. 

. . . The wooded Trosachs frown, 

And throw, with cumbrous gloom, their shadows down, 

Like giants girt with sackcloth. — Blackivood's Magazine. 

The western waves of ebbing day 
Roll'd o'er the glen their level way; 
Each purple peak, each flinty spire, 
Was bathed in floods of living fire. 
But not a setting beam could glow 
Within the dark ravines below, 
Where twined the path in shadow hid 
Round many a rocky pyramid, 
Shooting abruptly from the dell 
Its thunder-splinter'd pinnacle; 
Round many an insulated mass, 
The native bulwarks of the pass, 
Huge as the tower which builders vain 
Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. 
The rocky summits, split and rent, 
Form'd turret, dome, or battlement, 
Or seem'd fantastically set 
With cupola or minaret, 
Wild crests as pagod ever deck'd, 
Or mosque of Eastern architect. 



196 FROM THE THAMES TO THE T ROSA CHS. 



Nor were these earth-born castles bare, 
Nor lack'd they many a banner fair; 
For, from their sliiver'd brows display'd, 
Far o'er the unfathomable glade, 
All twinkling with the dewdrop's sheen, 
The brier-rose fell in streamers green, 
And creeping shrubs, of thousand dyes, 
"Waved in the west wind's summer sighs. 

Boon nature scatter'd, free and wild, 
Each plant or flower the mountain's child. 
Here eglantine embalmed the air, 
Hawthorn and hazel mingled there ; 
The primrose pale and violet flower 
Found in each cliff a narrow bower: 
Fox-glove and night-shade, side by side, 
Emblems of punishment and pride, 
Group'd their dark hues with every stain 
The weather-beaten crags retain. 
With boughs that quaked at every breath, 
Gray birch and aspen wept beneath; 
Aloft, the ash and warrior oak 
Cast anchor in the rifted rock ; 
And, higher yet, the pine-tree hung 
His shatter'd trunk, and frequent flung, 
Where seem'd the cliffs to meet on high, 
His boughs athwart the narrow'd sky. 
Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, 
Where glist'ning streamers waved and danced, 
The wanderer's eye could barely view 
The summer heaven's delicious blue ; 
So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 
The scenery of a fairy dream. — Scott. 

Loch Katrine is about nine miles in length, and the sail by 
steamer from one end to the other occupies about one hour. 

The mountain of Benvenue, 2,386 feet high, rises from 
the southern, and Bena'an, 1,800 feet in height, from the 
northern, shore of the loch. 

Whether we continue to explore the northern side of this magnificent 
Perthshire loch, or by by boat embark upon its surface, fresh beauties de- 



THE TROSACHS. 197 



light the eye. Now we behold bluff promontories, where rocks of singular 
blackness dip do an into unfathomed water, and anon deep bays with their, 
" silver strands," covered with sandy gravel bleached to snowy whiteness' 
by the waves of ages. On every side rise rugged and stupendous cliffs, 
covered with timber of every kind that seems to take root, not in the earth, 
but in the living rock. — Picturesque Europe. 

Loch Katrine is one of the loveliest bodies of water on the earth. — D. R 
Locke. 

Loch Katrine is a very pretty sheet of water, lying at the foot of rugged 
mountains. — H. M. Field, D.D. 

Loch Katrine lay like a sheet of polished steel at the bottom of its glen. — 
Hamerton. 

Loch Katrine. . . . with its Rob Roy's prison, its Roderick Dhu's 
watch-tower, and its Benvenne; its groves vocal with the music of birds, 
its hundred white mountain streams, its bleached sand, silvered by the 
wash of the clear wave; its wild goats, climbing where no other feet, save 
those of the bird, can venture : its clumps of wood and ample fields, and, 
near by, its Trosachs, so wildly beautiful; what is all this without the 
creative genius which has peopled the isle, the moor, the mountain and the 
glen with the Lady of the Lake, the Douglas, the merry roaming king Fitz 
James, and the wild Roderick. — S. S. Cox. 

The length of the loch is ten miles, and at its termination it meets the 
pass of the Trosachs, between Bena'an and Benvenne, which are the 
rudest and shaggiest of hills. . . . After dinner we all took a walk ... by 
the right-hand path along the lake, as far as Ellen's Isle. It was very 
pleasant, there being gleams of calm evening sunshine gilding the mount- 
ain sides, and putting a golden crown occasionally on the head of Ben- 
venue. — Hawthorne. 

Loch Katrine, lying blue and beautiful in the midst of its environing hills 
— almost fairy in its diminutive breadth, and quite fairy in the perfeciion 
of handiwork, which seemed to have been bestowed upon it by nature — the 
impression created by it in comparison with all other mountain lakes being 
that of a charming vivacious, handsome, laughing little elf of the rarest and 
finest womanhood in the midst of a gathering of admiriDg mortals. — Henry 
Morford. 

Loch Katrine is claimed as one of the finest lakes in the world, and it is 
certain that no one can imagine its superior. — T W. Silloway and L. L. 
Powers. 

We go over a wild region to Loch Katrine, where we again take steamer 
and pass among the scenes of Scott's Lady of the Lake.— Prof. J. S. Lee. 



198 FROM THE TIIAMES TO THE TROSACHS. 

There is no lovelier sheet of water in Scotland than this ; sheltered by 
Bena'an and Benledi and the more majestic Benvenue. — S. I. Prime, 

A lovely sheet of water, and reminding the American tourist of Lake 

George. — Curtis Guild. 

Loch Katrine derives a poetic charm from being the scene of the Lady of 
the Lake.—K M. Field. D.D. 

Straight up from the deep water rise the green precipices and bold and 
ragged rocks, overshadowing the glassy mirror below with tints like a cool 
corner in a landscape of Ruysdael's — K P. Nillis. 

Loch Katrine, this beautiful mirror, so deeply set in the bold frame- work 
of the mountains. ... It is in itself a most interesting object of sublimity 
and beauty.— Wilbur Fi.sk, D.D. 

All that we beheld was the perfection of loveliness and beauty. — Dorothy 
Wordsivorth. 

When we reached Loch Katrine its surface was almost unruffled, except 
by now and then the narrow pathway of a breeze, as if the wing of an un- 
seen spirit had just grazed it in flitting across. — Hawthorne. 

"We launched upon the dark, deep water, between craggy and shrubby 
steeps, the summits of which rose on every side of us. — Bryant. 

We passed a glorious morning on the banks of Loch Katrine. The air 
was pure, fresh, and balmy, and the warm sunshine glowed upon forest and 
lake, upon dark crag and purple mountain-top. The lake was a scene in 
fairy-land! — Bayard Taylor. 

And now, to issue from the glen, 
No pathway meets the wanderer's ken, 
Unless he climb, with footing nice, 
A far-projecting precipice. 
The broom's tough roots his ladder made, 
The hazel sapling lent their aid ; 
And thus an airy point he won. 
"Where, gleaming with the setting sun, 
One burnished sheet of living gold 
Loch Katrine lay beneath liim rolled. 
In all her length far winding lay, 
With promontory, creek, and bay, 
And islands that, enpurpled bright, 
Floated amid the livelier light, 
And mountains that like giants stand 
To sentinel enchanted laud. 



THE TR OS A CHS. 199 

High on the south huge Benvenue 

Down on the lake in masses threw 

Crags, knolls, and mounds, confus'dly hurled, 

The fragments of an earlier world ; 

A wildering forest feather'd o'er 

His ruined sides and summit hoar. 

While on the north, through middle air, 

Bena'an heaved high his forehead bare. — Scott. 

Ellen's Isle is near the eastern end of Loch Katrine. The 
greater part of it is covered with trees, and, like the entire 
loch, suggestive of romance and poetry. 

Sweet Ellen's Isle, in beauty framed. — Wallace Bruce. 

Wild Loch Katrine, with its queen gem called Ellen's Isle. — S. S. Cox. 

Ellen's Isle, a beautiful little turquoise in the silver setting of Loch 
Katrine. — Bayard Taylor. 

The loch was calm and beautiful. Ellen's Isle, thickly wooded, lay re- 
flected as a mirror. — Mary L. Kinde. 

The distance from Stronachlachar to Inversnaid is five 
miles. The hills along the route are mostly devoid of trees, 
but covered with heath to their very summit. Lake Arklet 
is passed. The surrounding neighborhood of this lake is 
claimed to have been the head-quarters, for a time at least, 
of the Scottish outlaw, Rob Roy, and his wife, Helen 
MacGregor. 

Inversnaid is about six miles from the northern extremity 
of Loch Lomond. From this point several excursions can 
be made through the Highlands. The water-fall just back 
of the Inversnaid Hotel is the one described by Wordsworth 
in his poem, The Highland Girl. 

Loch Lomond, the largest of the Scottish lochs, is twenty- 
three miles in length. Its surface, near the southern ex- 
tremity, is dotted with several islands, which are considered 
one of its greatest attractions. The largest of the group is 
Inch Murrin, owned and used by the Duke of Montrose as 
a deer park. The ruins of an old castle, formerly owned by 
the Earls of Lennox, are seen on the southern end. 



200 FROM THE THAMES TO THE T ROSA CHS. 



Inch Caillaeh, or the Island of Woman, contains an ancient 
burying-ground of the Clan MacGregor. 

Loch Lomond is intimately associated with the life and 
daring exploits of Rob Roy and his clan. 

The lower portion of the loch is surrounded by a hilly but well cultivated 
and finely wooded country, and the character of the scenery is, in the high- 
est degree, rich and beautiful. Around the northern portion of the loch are 
piled high, wild and picturesque masses of mountains. — Chambers's Cyclo- 
paedia. 

Loch Lomond is celebrated for its grand scenery, being surrounded by 
high and lofty mountains toward the north, the most conspicuous of which 
is Benlomond ; and toward the south by an elevated and diversified 
country dotted with villas. — American Cyclopaidia. 

Loch Lomond lay in all its majestic beauty before my eyes. — S. I. 
Prime. 

I was greatly pleased with the romantically variegated batiks of Loch 
Lomond. — Anon. 

There is an old Highland saying about Loch Lomond that it was 
" Famous for three things : 
Waves without winds, 
Fish without fins, 
And an island that swims." — Anon. 

Loch Lomond presents, in its northern portion, all the grandeur arid 
sublimity of the wildest parts of Lake Como, and in its southern division all 
the beauty and loveliness of Lake Maggiore. — Rev. J. E. Edwards. 

This beautiful lake, which extends into the very regions of romance. — 
Wilbur Msk, D.D. 

A combination of natural wildness, loveliness, beauty, and barrenness, 
yet not comfortless or cold, but the whole was beautiful. — Dorothy 
Wordsworth. 

Loch Lomond, smiling up to heaven in all its entertaining beauty of 
silvery waters, verdant clustering islands, and mountain-shadowed shores. — 
Grace Greenwood. 

Loch Lomond, with the dark mountains looking down upon its waters. 
— Curtis Guild. 

Loch Lomond. The mountain grandeurs disclose themselves in ever- 
varying forms beyond the expanse of blue water at their feet. — S. G. 
Green, D.D. 

The pride of the Scottish Lakes. — McCulloch. 



THE TR OS A CHS. 201 



Loch Lomond has the most beautiful lake and mountain scenery im- 
maginable. — Elizabeth Peake. 

A constant succession of charming pictures. — L. L. Holden. 

Toward the southern end of the lake the towering mountains, peak beyond 
peak, which overlook the lake, subside into hills. — Bryant. 

Loch Lomond lay unrolled under my feet like a beautiful map. — Bayard 
Taylor. . 

That vast sheet of water, with its many isles. — Picturesque Europe. 

This noble lake, boasting innumerable islands of every varying form and 
outline which fancy can frame. — Scott. 

He who has studied and understood and felt all Loch Lomond, will be 
prepared at ouce to enjoy any other fine lakes he looks on. — Professor Wilson. 

Loch Lomond lies amid very striking scenery, being poured in among 
the gorges of steep and lofty mountains, which nowhere stand aside to give 
it room, but, on the contrary, do their best to shut it in. — Hawthorne. 

"I wonder," once exclaimed Dr. Chalmers, "whether there is a Loch 
Lomond in heaven." 

As we came in sight of the lake, the water looked like one sheet of gold 
leaf trembling. — K P. Willis. 

Loci) Lomond, with its guardian mountains. — Edward King. 

If the tourist so prefers, he can leave the steamer at Tar- 
bet, a few miles south of Inversnaid, and proceed to Balloch 
by carriage. The road skirts the western shore of the loch. 
A line of coaches also connects Tarbet with Inverary, also 
Arrochar, on Loch Long. 

The village of Luss, about nine miles south of Tarbet, on 
the same side of the lake, is located near the entrance of 
Glen Luss, and just south of Glen Fiuin, or the Glen of Sor- 
row, where, during the reign of James VI., a terrible battle 
was fought between the Clans of MacGregor and Colquhouns. 

Eilan Vow, a point near the upper end of the loch, was 
once the stronghold of the MacFarlane Clan. 

Ben Lomond rises from the eastern shore of the loch to a 
height of 3,192 feet. The fine view from its summit is said 
to amply repay the exertions of an ascent, which may be 

made, on foot or bv ponies, from Rowardennan, a town about 

14 



202 FROM THE THAMES TO THE TRO SACHS. 

eight miles south of Inversnaid. Excursions up this mount- 
ain are also made from Inversnaid and Aberfoyle, but Row- 
ardenan is by far the easiest and pleasantest starting-point. 
The excursion up Benlomond is a favorite with all tourists, 
and no mountain in Scotland is oftener visited. 

The lofty peak of Benlomond, here the predominant monarch of the 
mountains. — Scott. 

On the right rises Benlomond piercing the clouds. — Wilbur Fish, D.D. 

Benlomond stood alone, majestically overlooking the lake. — Dorothy 
Wordsworth. 

Great Benlomond, with his snow-covered head. — Hawthorne. 

Benlomond, standing out in sublime greatness. — T. W. Silloway and L. L. 
Powers. 

The dark crest of Benlomond, loftier than any of the mountains around. — 
Bryant. 

Benlomond, a grand mountain, having one of the noblest hill forms in 
Scotland, rising each side with bold, gracefully-curving, sweeping slopes to 
a sharp double cone. — J. F. Hunnewell. 

Benlomond, with its great dome. — Hawthorne. 

Piercing the cloudless element, ascends 
Benlomond's conic spire and lordly crest. 

— Blackwood's Magazine. 

. . . From the great Ben's dewy crown 
The infant rill conies trickling down. 

— John Stuart Blachie. 

ButLo! Benlomond's awful crown 

Through shrouding mists looks dimly down ; 

For though, perchance, his piercing eye 

Doth read the secrets of the sky, 

His haughty bosom scorns to show 

Those secrets to the world below. — Mrs. Sigourney. 

On reaching the peak, you see around you no plain ground, but on every 
side constellations or groups of hills exquisitely dressed in the soft purple 
of the heather, amid which gleam the lakes, like eyes that tell the secrets 
of the earth and drink in those of heaven. — Margaret Fuller Ossoli. 

We soon attained the summit, arid mounting a little mound of earth and 
stones, I saw the half of Scotland at a glauce. The clouds hung just above 



THE T1W SACHS. 203 



the mountain tops, which rose all around like the waves of a mighty sea. 
One every side — near and far — stood their misty summits, but Benlomond 
was the monarch of them all. — Bayard Taylor. 

Benlomond. From the summit what a mighty, measureless panorama; 
what a world of light and shadow ; what a glory of nature ; what a wonder 
of God lay beneath and around us. Words" can only give you an idea of 
the extent of the vast circumference of that view. To the east are the hills 
and valleys of Stirlingshire, and the Lothians, Stirling Castle and the wind- 
ings of the Forth, the Pentland Hills, Arthur's Seat, and Edinburgh Castle. 
In the south, the peak of Tinto, the city of Glasgow. Lanarkshire, Ailsa 
Craig, the Isle of Man, and the Isles of Bute and Arran ; and. gazing down 
beyond the outlet of Loch Lomond, you see Dunbarton. But on the north 
I beheld the grandest sight that ever met my gaze ! Mountains on mount- 
ains, stretching away into the distance, and seeming like the mighty waves 
of a dark sea stayed in their stormy swell, petrified and fixed forever by the 
word of Omnipotence. Vexed indeed and tumultuous must have been that 
awful chaotic ocean ere its vast billows and black hollows were resolved 
into the everlasting rock ; for among these mountain forms there is a 
wondrous and endless variety. . . . Beneath us shone Loch Lomond, Loch 
Katrine, Loch Ard — the wild country of Rob Roy — the scene of the en- 
chanting romance and song of Scott. . . . The stupendous mountain peaks, 
the eternal hills around seemed altars for nature's perpetual worship — tow- 
ering types of the might and majesty of God ; while the lakes with their 
silver shining, and the green valleys with their still shadows and golden 
gleams of autumnal sunlight, in all their wondrous beauty spoke sweetly to 
the awed spirit of divine love and protecting care. — Grace Greenwood. 



H 313 85 



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